Volkswagen electric car sales plunge: Why are Europeans returning to petrol?

The company said in its latest financial update on 10 April that sales of all-electric vehicles declined by 24% in Europe, while sales grew by 91% in China, year-over-year.

However, overall, the company said it increased its vehicle deliveries by 3% to 2.10 million vehicles with the main drivers being China, South America and North America.

"Vehicles with combustion engines increased by 4% to 1.97 million units, overcompensating the slight decline of 3% to 136,400 all-electric vehicles (BEV). In this segment, strong growth in China (+91%) did not fully offset the decline in Europe (-24%).

"However, incoming orders for BEVs in Western Europe developed positively from January to March. More than twice as many all-electric models were ordered as in the same period last year (+154%), so that the BEV order bank currently stands at around 160,000 vehicles," a company statement said.

Volkswagen's Hildegard Wortmann, a member of the group's Extended Executive Committee for Sales, commented on the latest results.

"In a market environment that remains challenging, the Volkswagen Group achieved a solid delivery performance in the first quarter. Our diversified product portfolio gives us the necessary flexibility to compensate for fluctuations in demand in certain segments - as is currently the case with all-electric vehicles - in others. 

"The higher order intake for our all-electric models in Europe makes us confident that we will grow in this segment both in our home region and worldwide over the year as a whole. More than 30 model launches across all drive types this year will give us tailwind in the coming months."

In February, the European Parliament voted to approve a new law banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2035.

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