Those are early signs of what will likely be an
upcoming year of increasing market share
for electric cars as EU regulations drive their
adoption, despite the recession caused by the
coronavirus pandemic that has caused the
overall car market to shrink.
Volkswagen said its namesake brand sold
134,000 battery-powered cars last year, up from
45,000 in 2019.
Including hybrids, which combine an internal
combustion engine and an electric motor, sales
of electrified cars reached 212,000, up from
82,000 in 2019.
Volkswagen’s announcement comes as the
auto industry association in Germany reports
that one in four cars sold in the country in
December had an electric motor, uptake that
was supported by incentives as part of the
government stimulus package during the
COVID-19 recession.
Battery and hybrid cars took 26.6% of sales
that month, running ahead of diesel cars,
which had 26.2%. That is also a token of
diesel’s steep decline after Volkswagen’s 2015
scandal involving diesel cars rigged to cheat on
emissions tests.
Electric cars have so far been a small but rapidly
growing slice of the European market. According
to the European Automobile Manufacturers
Association, in the July-September quarter of
2020 9.9% of cars sold were chargeable vehicles,
up from 3.0% a year earlier. The association
publishes full-year statistics on Feb. 4.
Automakers in the EU must sell more zero-
emission cars in order to meet tougher fleet
average limits on emissions of carbon dioxide,