> Perhaps there's something unique about the German market? Is there anyone from Germany here who can shed light on this?
I'm from Germany (but not in the car industry in any way) and I think the main reason why they have sold so much cars is not because they are competitive, but because they have to. They have to sell the cars to fulfill whole-fleet emissions requirements, otherwise they'd be
punished by fines.
So they push the cars into the market at losses, but it's still cheaper for them than paying the fines.
> According to Auto Motor and Sport, at least in the first phase, Volkswagen does not plan to make money on EVs and expects to lose around €3,000 per each I.D. sold
> In view of the threat of fines being imposed on the EU for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, it is worthwhile for car manufacturers to sell electric cars at a loss (without covering all costs). Because electric cars reduce the average CO2 emissions of a vehicle fleet, manufacturers can sell many profitable cars with combustion engines with an optimized amount of electricity and still remain below the generally prescribed average of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, calculated Prof. Dr. Peter Hoberg from the University of Applied Sciences in Worms. (German)
I'm from Germany (but not in the car industry in any way) and I think the main reason why they have sold so much cars is not because they are competitive, but because they have to. They have to sell the cars to fulfill whole-fleet emissions requirements, otherwise they'd be punished by fines.
So they push the cars into the market at losses, but it's still cheaper for them than paying the fines.
> According to Auto Motor and Sport, at least in the first phase, Volkswagen does not plan to make money on EVs and expects to lose around €3,000 per each I.D. sold
https://insideevs.com/news/346510/volkswagen-id-sold-loss-30...
"Chairman of the Daimler Supervisory Board: No company earns money with electric cars yet" (German)
https://ecomento.de/2020/01/16/daimler-aufsichtsratschef-kei...
> In view of the threat of fines being imposed on the EU for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, it is worthwhile for car manufacturers to sell electric cars at a loss (without covering all costs). Because electric cars reduce the average CO2 emissions of a vehicle fleet, manufacturers can sell many profitable cars with combustion engines with an optimized amount of electricity and still remain below the generally prescribed average of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, calculated Prof. Dr. Peter Hoberg from the University of Applied Sciences in Worms. (German)
https://www.elektroauto-news.net/2020/co2-grenzwerte-verlust...