VW overestimated interest in electric cars by 30% and will lay off EV autoworkers as gas prices drop

[Redaktion]

Citing 'softening demand' for electric vehicles, Volkswagen will be pausing their production at its Emden plant and laying off a fifth of the workforce there. Rising electricity prices and lower gasoline have affected the buying argumentation, too, as EVs are still way more expensive than gas-powered cars.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/VW-overestimated-interest-in-electric-cars-by-30-and-will-lay-off-EV-autoworkers-as-gas-prices-drop.732166.0.html

[heffeque]

That's not 100% accurate.
This:
"VW overestimated interest in electric cars by 30%"
Should have read this:
"VW overestimated interest in VW electric cars by 30%"

Other brands are growing at huge y2y rates and still can't meet demand.
Basically VW is building poor quality, yet highly expensive electric cars, so nobody that has compared electric cars want VW's options.

Tesla, MG, etc. on the other hand... they might have their flaws, but they're certainly attracting most electric car buyers.

[Vincero]

That's not 100% accurate.
This:
"VW overestimated interest in electric cars by 30%"
Should have read this:
"VW overestimated interest in VW electric cars by 30%"

My thoughts exactly - literally word for word.

The ID cars I wouldn't say are badly built... But they've made some odd design choices and by all accounts are finally getting over their software issues.

VW's other problem is they are competing with themselves in so many other areas - for the money they are asking for their ID models they sell something ICE powered that's better. And of course there are better EVs for the money.

[Ish]

Would still buy a VW EV over a Tesla so long as that shitstain of a human being runs the company.

[A]

Tesla Model Y in 2023Q1 was the best selling car in the world. Demand is there if you build your car right. But the most important thing is the experience, VW and other automakers really needs to up their game and make the experience more seamless.

[heffeque]

Tesla Model Y in 2023Q1 was the best selling car in the world. Demand is there if you build your car right. But the most important thing is the experience, VW and other automakers really needs to up their game and make the experience more seamless.

Just to clarify, for people who don't know.
The Model Y was the best selling car in the world... In general, not referring specifically to electric cars.
Tesla sold more "Model Y" electric cars than Toyota sold "Corolla" combustion cars.

[Joe schmo]

Tesla is a company that does things NON CONVENTIONAL and it works. Traditional auto makers are all stuck in an outdated business model. Too many useless managers, Frontliners treated as they know nothing, and where accountants and clueless high level managers make decisions. They're driven by useless metrics instead of what the customer wants. THATS WHY TESLA ISBEATING THEIR LUNCH.

[Neenyah]

So Toyota Corolla with a base starting price of 32K€ was the best selling car of a whole 2022 with 1.12 million sales. Confirmed various sources.
 
Tesla Model Y with a base starting price od 47K€ is the best selling car of Q1 2023 with 267,200 sales. Source trustmebro (AKA motor1.com).

So people worldwide are suddenly +48% richer and they feel the irressistible urge to get rid of that money ASAP. Makes perfect sense, yes. Not.

[Id Bar]

VW is making odd decisions. They need to compete against their best selling vehicles, but they are not designing to compete.

I would have bought the ID3 GTX of they had started with it and shipped it to the US. Unfortunately, they decided to start with SUVs.

The issue I believe relies on:
Manufacturers think everyone wants an SUV.
Statistics may indicate people would get ICE SUVs. But my big guess is people would be more comfortable buying a small commuter EV instead of replacing their SUVs

Yet every manufacturer decided to start trying to replace the most common ICE use cases, instead of the EV use cases. Tesla beat them by coming with an ICE killer right from the start which is what many ICE manufacturers seem to be afraid of.

[Kay Jay]

I'm confused.

Gas prices were nearly $4 last year around the outbreak of the war.
Today they are at like 3.75 or so, fluctuating between 3.60 and 3.80...

When did gas prices fall?  They've sat steady since the war began...

[spuwho]

Ford raises prices on the Maverick Hybrid. Underestimated demand by having a 70/30 ICE to Hybrid mix.  Market was demanding just the opposite. A 70/30 Hybrid to ICE demand.

The hybrid Maverick will no longer be the base model. Ford will now make the ICE 2.0L the base model and add $1500 to the hybrid and make it the premium.

[A]

So Toyota Corolla with a base starting price of 32K€ was the best selling car of a whole 2022 with 1.12 million sales. Confirmed various sources.
 
Tesla Model Y with a base starting price od 47K€ is the best selling car of Q1 2023 with 267,200 sales. Source trustmebro (AKA motor1.com).

So people worldwide are suddenly +48% richer and they feel the irressistible urge to get rid of that money ASAP. Makes perfect sense, yes. Not.

There is more to the equation, first of all, US passed the 7.5k tax credit which Tesla stopped qualifying for ever since they sold 200k but it returned due to IRA. On top of that many places have pretty high fuel prices so the overall savings is even bigger. Lastly, sedan sales in general have been falling while SUV sales have been going up

[Ish]

Tesla is a company that does things NON CONVENTIONAL and it works. Traditional auto makers are all stuck in an outdated business model. Too many useless managers, Frontliners treated as they know nothing, and where accountants and clueless high level managers make decisions. They're driven by useless metrics instead of what the customer wants. THATS WHY TESLA ISBEATING THEIR LUNCH.

Time to crawl out of Elon's a** there guy. Tesla does things like every other company, the only difference is they have a loud mouth, man child of a CEO, with fascist leanings who insists on trying to stay relevant like a true narcissist while he runs companies into the ground. That and all the subsidies they receive from the federal government. Time to get over the Musk / Tesla fanboyism and see reality for what it really is: Trump 2.0 is not a genius...

[A]

Time to crawl out of Elon's a** there guy. Tesla does things like every other company, the only difference is they have a loud mouth, man child of a CEO, with fascist leanings who insists on trying to stay relevant like a true narcissist while he runs companies into the ground. That and all the subsidies they receive from the federal government. Time to get over the Musk / Tesla fanboyism and see reality for what it really is: Trump 2.0 is not a genius...

1. Tesla offers a far better EV experience than any other automaker, the reason is simple, it isn't magic. It's because Tesla executives actually drive their own EVs instead of driving ICE cars and having someone else build their EVs on a checklist. They also don't have most of their business in ICE cars so don't need to worry about eating into their ICE investments and marketshare. Notice the article how Tesla was for stricter guidelines saying all EV is possible by 2030 while other automakers were against it? Then there is the dealership networks, Tesla was smart to do direct sales where as other automakers own dealers discourage EV buying

2. Not sure why you compare Musk and Trump, their only similarity is they both known for their posts on twitter, and that is about it. Musk abandoned his family and earned all his money on his own with pretty much all his companies being successful. In comparison, Trump got all his money from his daddy, most of his companies went bankrupt. If he would have put his daddy's money in the S&P, he'd be richer than he is today playing businessman

3. Tesla gets less subsidies than any other automaker. In case of VW, the government literally partly owns them.

Just cause you hate Musk is no reason to deny reality. All it means is other automakers need to up their game. Start by forcing all their executives to drive EVs

[Ish]

Time to crawl out of Elon's a** there guy. Tesla does things like every other company, the only difference is they have a loud mouth, man child of a CEO, with fascist leanings who insists on trying to stay relevant like a true narcissist while he runs companies into the ground. That and all the subsidies they receive from the federal government. Time to get over the Musk / Tesla fanboyism and see reality for what it really is: Trump 2.0 is not a genius...

1. Tesla offers a far better EV experience than any other automaker, the reason is simple, it isn't magic. It's because Tesla executives actually drive their own EVs instead of driving ICE cars and having someone else build their EVs on a checklist. They also don't have most of their business in ICE cars so don't need to worry about eating into their ICE investments and marketshare. Notice the article how Tesla was for stricter guidelines saying all EV is possible by 2030 while other automakers were against it? Then there is the dealership networks, Tesla was smart to do direct sales where as other automakers own dealers discourage EV buying

2. Not sure why you compare Musk and Trump, their only similarity is they both known for their posts on twitter, and that is about it. Musk abandoned his family and earned all his money on his own with pretty much all his companies being successful. In comparison, Trump got all his money from his daddy, most of his companies went bankrupt. If he would have put his daddy's money in the S&P, he'd be richer than he is today playing businessman

3. Tesla gets less subsidies than any other automaker. In case of VW, the government literally partly owns them.

Just cause you hate Musk is no reason to deny reality. All it means is other automakers need to up their game. Start by forcing all their executives to drive EVs

Hate to break it to you, but Musk is just Trump 2.0: a malignant narcissist with authoritarian political beliefs who gets too much credit from idiots who don't know any better and who gained the system by being born into a ultra wealthy family. You can bury your head in the sand and apologize for him all you want, but the reality is he is no different than Trump and you're the kind of person who would have been making the same excuses for Trump in the 80s and 90s (i.e., "running up mountains of debt, ripping off contractors, declaring bankruptcy is a pro move"). Musk is the dumb persons genius, like Trump is the poor person's self-made billionaire: it is an illusion only the gullible fall for. Time to pull your head from his arse.