VW – Page 3318 – I wish I had more to offer

Dividends are often underestimated

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Daimler, VW, BMW: Relaxation after a crisis call: Automakers agree on e-car strategy

Finally, the telephone conversation with the CEO of Daimler. BMW and VW took about 40 minutes. After ten minutes it was already clear that everyone would pull together, industry representatives reported to the Handelsblatt following the conference call. The Future belongs to electric mobility, and this will be the only technology in the decade ahead… Continue reading Daimler, VW, BMW: Relaxation after a crisis call: Automakers agree on e-car strategy

Sports car manufacturer: Porsche sweeps the night shift in Leipzig in summer

Porsche production in Leipzig In the East German factory is to be worked from August only in two-shift system. (Photo: AP) LeipzigThe sports car manufacturer Porsche starts production in Leipzig from the summer. After the company holidays, the night shift will be canceled on 5 August and work will only be done in a two-shift… Continue reading Sports car manufacturer: Porsche sweeps the night shift in Leipzig in summer

“European Battery Union”: VW is teaming up with Northvolt for battery cell production

Electricity station in Wolfsburg VW wants to cooperate with Northvolt in battery production. (Photo: AP) HamburgVolkswagen wants to promote the development of a production of battery cells for e-cars in Europe together with the Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt. Together with other partners from a total of seven EU countries, they are joining forces to form… Continue reading “European Battery Union”: VW is teaming up with Northvolt for battery cell production

Technology dispute between BMW and VW: Autobuses put electro-conflict for the time being

VW boss Diess wants to concentrate state subsidies exclusively on e-cars, with the advance, however, BMW has grossed. Now the corporations have agreed to work together to prepare a strategy. The VWDemand for a radical change to battery-powered electric mobility has the German auto industry split. Essentially, it is about whether state subsidies – as… Continue reading Technology dispute between BMW and VW: Autobuses put electro-conflict for the time being

Porsche Consulting: Higher Sales and More Hires

The globally active management consultancy Porsche Consulting posted new record sales of 173 million euros for the 2018 business year—up from 139 million euros in 2017 (+24.5%). Founded 25 years ago, the company currently employs 580 people. It expects to continue its growth trajectory in 2019 and hire 120 employees by the end of the… Continue reading Porsche Consulting: Higher Sales and More Hires

Innovative water treatment at Audi saves up to 500,000 cubic meters of fresh water a year

Audi has reached another milestone on its way to wastewater-free automobile production. The company has put a new service-water supply center into operation at the Ingolstadt site. In conjunction with the existing treatment plant, about half of the wastewater produced at the site can now be recycled and treated for reuse. In this way, Audi… Continue reading Innovative water treatment at Audi saves up to 500,000 cubic meters of fresh water a year

Volkswagen forms European Battery Union with Northvolt

The Volkswagen Group and further European partners are joining forces to form the Euro-pean Battery Union (EBU) with a view to forging ahead with battery research throughout Europe. The new consortium is to be led by the Volkswagen Group and the Swedish battery producer Northvolt. The joint research activities of the European Battery Union will… Continue reading Volkswagen forms European Battery Union with Northvolt

VW sold twice as many diesels in 2018 as in 2017

Volkswagen turbodiesels await their fate near Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs
Volkswagen is scrambling to convert its business to building electric cars from building internal combustion cars to building electrics. But it hasn't put diesels behind it.

According to a report by VW itself, orders for its diesel vehicles rose from 39 percent of its products in 2017 to 43 percent in 2018, and that goes double for private customers versus fleet orders. With sales of 10.8 million cars worldwide in 2018, that amounts to 4.6 million diesels sold in 2018.

MUST READ: VW says it is now developing its last generation of gas, diesel engines

Among VW's retail customers, 27 percent ordered diesels versus 15 percent in 2017, the company said.

Although VW announced last year that it was in the process of designing its last internal combustion engines—expected to hit the market in 2026 and to last another 10 years beyond that—it is still heavily dependent on its older stable of gas and diesel engines as it begins the transition to electric cars.

Volkswagen MEB platform architecture

Volkswagen announced last week that it plans to increase its investment in electric cars with a second wave of models based on its upcoming “affordable” MEB electric-car platform, saying it now plans to build 70 new electric models by 2030, and a total of 22 million electric cars, up from its earlier plan for 50 new models and 15 million cars.

The company previously announced that it is investing $50 billion in the transition to electric vehicles, and is converting two of its main factories in Germany to build electric cars. It is also launching a new division in Europe to sell cleaner electric power to its EV-driving customers (and others.)

DON'T MISS: VW boosts electric car plans with more models, 22 million EVs in 10 years

To support those investments, though, it will need to continue selling internal combustion cars, including diesels. “In Germany, the diesel debate is emotionally charged—and frequently strays from the facts,” said Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales, Jürgen Stackmann in a company statement. “Given its high efficiency and its performance and in light of climate change, the diesel engine will remain an important technology for years to come, especially for those who travel long distances.”

Volkswagen's diesel engines have been embroiled in the largest emissions cheating scandal, in which it recalled 11 million cars worldwide, and which has cost the company $25 billion in fines in the U.S. alone. Following the scandal, however, Volkswagen diesels have been shown to be complaint with emissions laws where they are sold.

h/t CCM951

Audi Sales, Mercedes Sales, Toyota Sales, Infiniti Sales, Acura Car Sales, BMW Car Sales, Honda Car Sales, & Lexus Car Sales Down In February In USA

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Published on March 19th, 2019 |

by Zachary Shahan

Audi Sales, Mercedes Sales, Toyota Sales, Infiniti Sales, Acura Car Sales, BMW Car Sales, Honda Car Sales, & Lexus Car Sales Down In February In USA

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March 19th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

Here on CleanTechnica, we keep a close eye on electric vehicle news and sales. However, it’s important to watch competing areas of the market to get a sense of the full dynamic. As part of that, I track the monthly US sales of all the automakers that publish monthly figures. The story lately has been a downtrend in sales at major automakers other than Tesla, and especially those automakers’ car sales.

In the month of February, the following luxury auto companies and car divisions had the following sales drops:

Acura Cars: −12%
Audi: −12%
Audi Cars: −12%
BMW Cars: −12%
Infiniti: −17%
Infiniti Cars: −46%
Lexus Cars: −2%
Mercedes-Benz: −13%
Mercedes-Benz Cars: −4%
Volvo Cars: −77%

On the flip side, these luxury auto companies had the following sales increases:

Acura: 11%
Jaguar Land Rover: 29%
Lexus: 4%
Volvo: 6%

Overall, luxury auto sales from all of those companies were down 2,099 in February and car sales from those companies were down 10,775. No car division saw increased sales.

A few luxury brands are missing here — Buick, Cadillac, Lincoln, and Tesla — because they only report sales on a quarterly basis, and Jaguar doesn’t break out sales by model or class, so its car sales are estimated.

Regarding Tesla, our estimate is that Tesla Model 3 sales were somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 in the United States in February, which would close the gap in 2019 versus 2018 premium-class auto sales, but wouldn’t quite close the gap in premium-class car sales. As has been written many times across the auto world, consumers have been moving from cars to SUVs & crossovers, so that is surely part of the story here as well.

However, as we’ve noted many times in many ways, the Tesla Model 3 actually competes with mass-market cars like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in terms of 5 or 6 year total cost of ownership, while being a much better forming, better driving, safer, higher tech car. So, I’ve also been curiously looking at mass-market brands. The following are the mass-market auto companies and car divisions that saw their sales drop in February 2019 versus February 2018 (and by how much):

Honda: −1.6%
Honda Cars: −5.5%
Toyota: −6.3%
Toyota Cars: −10.6%
Nissan: −11.4%
Nissan Cars: −9.4%
Kia Cars: −2.6%
Hyundai Cars: −22.3%

Hmm, among the Big 3*, sales are crap.

(*Let’s be honest — Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are the Big 3 in the US if you’re not talking pickup trucks.)

On the flip side, other than Tesla, the following two major automakers saw their February 2019 sales rise compared to February 2018 (despite their car sales dropping):

Kia: 6.4%
Hyundai: 2%

Those two sister companies had ~3,600 more sales, combined, compared to February 2018. Nissan sales were down more than 13,000, Honda sales were down almost 2,000, and Toyota sales were down more than 9,000.

So, what does all this mean in relation to electric vehicle sales, and more specifically Tesla sales?

Who really knows? But if Tesla’s going to deliver another 40,000 or so cars in the United States this quarter, there’s a solid chance Tesla is continuing to take sales away from these other automakers. Furthermore, based on owner satisfaction surveys from Consumer Reports and others, it’s unlikely those Tesla buyers are going to go back to those older brands. And with the Tesla Model Y coming to market in a couple of years, Model 3 owners may well abandon those other automakers completely as they convert their gasoline crossovers and SUVs to Teslas.

There’s a lot of hype among certain people who want to see Tesla fail that Tesla’s days are numbered, that it’s all a house of cards that’s about to fall down. I don’t buy that narrative, but I wonder sometimes how much the other automakers are under that exact threat.

Remember that it wasn’t a 100% collapse in auto sales that caused GM and Chrysler to go bankrupt approximately a decade ago. Overall, US auto sales dropped 11.7% from 2007 to 2008.

Scroll up again and look at those drops in US sales for numerous automakers.

Stepping back another month, in January, the following automakers saw sales down as follows:

Nissan: −20%
Toyota: −7%
Mercedes-Benz: −14%
Honda: −1.5%
BMW: −5%
Lexus: −3%
Infiniti: −3%
Audi: −2%

Nissan is already doing worse than the US auto industry as a whole in 2007–2008. Mercedes-Benz is also down worse than the auto industry as a whole in 2007–2008. Toyota is more than halfway there. Honda and BMW are holding on much better but are also down. Audi and Infiniti are down dramatically. Where will all of this lead?

Of course, I’m not implying that these companies will go bankrupt just based on huge drops in US auto sales. These automakers all have strong sales in other markets — China, Europe, and Japan, for example. Nonetheless, executives at the North America divisions must be sweating bullets. The problem is — how do you compete with Tesla?

About the Author

Zachary Shahan Zach is tryin' to help society help itself (and other species). He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director and chief editor. He's also the president of Important Media and the director/founder of EV Obsession and Solar Love. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, and Canada.

Zach has long-term investments in TSLA, FSLR, SPWR, SEDG, & ABB — after years of covering solar and EVs, he simply has a lot of faith in these particular companies and feels like they are good cleantech companies to invest in. But he offers no professional investment advice and would rather not be responsible for you losing money, so don't jump to conclusions.

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