Electric cars are supposed to save the climate, but customers in Europe are currently reluctant to place orders. Europe’s largest car manufacturer, Volkswagen, feels this with force. Inflation and reduced government subsidy programs have meant that the industry has seen “slower development” since the beginning of the year, according to a conference call on Thursday. At the same time, VW is struggling with logistics difficulties after a shortage of semiconductors had caused problems for months. “We are now moving from a chip bottleneck to a transportation bottleneck,” said Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz. He cited America as an example, where there were no truck drivers for transports from Mexico to the USA.
The slack in demand has hardly been reflected in the figures for the second quarter, which VW presented on Thursday. Profits have increased compared to the same period last year. Deliveries increased because the Wolfsburg-based company reduced a backlog of orders due to the better supply of chips. Looking ahead, VW is becoming more cautious. The group could achieve its goal of increasing deliveries across all drive types from 8.3 to 9.5 million units in the year as a whole. There is now talk of 9 to 9.5 million vehicles. The targeted e-car share will be softened. Instead of 10 percent, VW now speaks of “8 to 10 percent”. Investors reacted coldly. The VW preference share fell by a good 3 percent to 119 euros by the afternoon, while the Dax rose slightly.