Some Volkswagen EVs already sold out for 2022 in Europe

A surge in international demand for electric vehicles and a shortage of semi-conductors continues to be a perfect storm in the new-vehicle market.

Volkswagen AG’s chief financial officer Arno Antlitz has confirmed that some of the firm’s electric vehicles are effectively sold out for the full year, while others are set for long waiting times.

It’s not been confirmed which models Antlitz is referring to specifically, although the claims are likely to implicate models from numerous Volkswagen brands, potentially including Porsche, Skoda, Audi, and others.

Speaking to press last week, Antlitz said that Volkswagen AG sold more than 762,000 BEV and PHEV models last year; a claimed 80% jump on the previous year’s figures. The news comes off the back of the firm debuting its highly anticipated ID. Buzz EV people mover.

The success of these platforms could have an adverse effect on the New Zealand market. Local distributors are still yet to confirm release dates for two of the country’s most anticipated plug-ins; the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq iV.

Both, it had been speculated, could be in local showrooms before the end of the year.

Antlitz noted that the German group’s success with plug-ins last year and demand for more this year has helped the company’s scale of production, simultaneously improving its financial returns. He believes that price parity between EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles will happen sooner than forecast.

“We see better scale, we see better margins, we see high customer demand,” said Antlitz. “Originally we thought it takes two to three years until we see the parity of ICE and battery-electric vehicles.”

That said, Antlitz added that a fly in the ointment when it comes to EV pricing is the cost of raw materials; recently hampered further by the war in Ukraine. This according to the CFO could mean interim price rises.

“Raw materials are clearly a headwind for us. There might be also the time when we need to pass on some of the increases to the market,” he adds.

Volkswagen would be far from the first brand to raise their electric vehicle prices due to the impacts of the war in Ukraine. Rivian and Tesla have already increased the prices of their vehicles.

Lucid is also rumoured to be investigating a price hike on its award-winning Air, although this has been more linked to the growing inflation rate.