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Volkswagen brand triples deliveries of pure EVs in 2020

EV sales soared in Europe in 2020, and at least two legacy automakers, Daimler and Volkswagen, appear on track to meet the EU’s stringent emissions targets for the year.

For the Volkswagen brand (part of the larger Volkswagen Group, which also includes Audi and Porsche), 2020 was “a turning point [and] a breakthrough in electric mobility,” according to Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

Pretty much every auto brand saw its sales plummet in 2020 (except for Tesla, which posted record sales), and VW was no exception—the brand delivered around 5.3 million vehicles globally, a decline of around 15 percent compared to 2019. However, VW set a new record for plug-in vehicle sales, delivering 212,000 units (an increase of 158 percent versus 2019), including nearly 134,000 pure EVs (up 197 percent versus 2019). “We are well on track to achieve our aim of becoming the market leader in battery-electric vehicles,” said Brandstätter.

Plug-in sales were particularly strong in Europe, reaching 12.4 percent of the brand’s total deliveries, compared to 2.3 percent in 2019. The most popular model was the new ID.3, which sold 56,500 units, even though it only came on the market in September. “We really hit the bullseye with the ID.3,” said Board Member Klaus Zellmer. “Even though it was only introduced in the second half of the year, it ranked in the top of the sales charts in many countries almost right away.”

In December, the ID.3 was the top-selling BEV in Finland, Slovenia and Norway, and in Sweden, it was the top-selling car of any kind.

The older e-Golf moved 41,300 units in 2020, and the Passat GTE shifted 24,000 units.

Source: Volkswagen Group

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