Volkswagen Group latest to report spike in EV sales

Volkswagen Group has released its global sales figures from the first quarter of 2022, showing a significant increase in electric vehicle uptake.

The umbrella brand reports that sales of EVs grew by 65% in Q1 of 2022, relative to the same period last year. In total, it sold 99,100 electric vehicles worldwide in the opening quarter.

The news follows similar statements from Mercedes-Benz, which claimed last week that its sales of electric vehicles had tripled year-on-year.

Volkswagen Group’s figures include the combined sales of Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, and Seat (as well as Seat’s performance offshoot, Cupra).

The Volkswagen ID.4 was the more competitive seller out of all of the plug-in models offered by the group, notching up 30,300 sales in the opening quarter. The Volkswagen ID.3 (13,000) and Audi Q4 e-tron (10,700) were also strong performers.

Perhaps just as notable is the popularity of the flagship premium Audi e-tron and Porsche Taycan. Volkswagen Group reports that it sold 10,300 of the former and 9,500 of the latter in Q1; impressive figures given the duo’s more niche pricing.

The Chinese market is where the group experienced its largest growth. It sold 28,800 EVs in the region in Q1; representing a staggering 360.5% year-on-year increase.

The 7900 it sold in the US was a more humble figure, but nevertheless represented a 16.2% gain. Europe unsurprisingly also saw a percentage gain; its 58,400 deliveries being a 33.5% increase on 2021’s numbers.

As far as the rest of the world goes, Volkswagen Group says it sold 4000 EVs to all other markets combined; a 26.9% jump.