cmu. Hamburg ⋅ Anyone who currently orders an electric car from the Volkswagen Group has to accept long delivery times. Some models are sold out for 2022, such as the Audi Q4 E-tron, for which buyers in Germany have to wait a year and a half. The group has imposed an order freeze for some brands of plug-in hybrids. Even the core brand VW can hardly keep up with deliveries, which is due to a mix of high demand and a lack of components, especially electronic chips. VW is not happy that “we have to keep customers waiting so long,” said the brand’s sales manager, Klaus Zellmer, in a video conference. There is no quick improvement in sight.
Currently, the brand’s battery-electric models have a delivery time of more than six months, although the situation varies depending on the vehicle. So customers get the SUV ID4 a little faster than the compact car ID3. Zellmer reports that some buyers shorten the time by switching to vehicles with faster availability. Others bridge the waiting time with a car subscription, which gives them a car for a monthly fee. By the middle of the year at the latest, VW expects better availability of semiconductors. But there is currently a shortage of wiring systems from Ukraine, so the prospects remain uncertain for the time being.