Volkswagen has sold out of EVs for Europe and US until 2023

All of Volkswagen Group’s electric vehicle inventory is now spoken for until 2023, CEO Herbert Diess has said.

The German auto group covers not only its eponymous VW brand but also Audi, Porsche, Seat, and Cupra, all of which make EVs.

With the Cupra Born set to be launched on the Australian auto market, the news could not come at a worse time. Volkswagen has already said it will delay the introduction of its ID series to Australia whilst it needs to prioritise inventory elsewhere.

The latest reports could mean an even longer delay.

The Driven has reached out to Volkswagen Australia to ask if the Cupra Born will still launch locally in 2022.

In a report by the Financial Times, Diess said that the automaker is “basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States” for the rest of 2022, as the company grapples with the global chip shortage and other issues to do with the Shanghai Covid shutdowns.

The manufacturing-wide problem is holding up many sectors, as well as other automakers.

Volkswagen sold 100,000 electric cars in the first quarter of 2022, a third of Tesla. According to FT, Volkswagen continues to take orders in Europe and the US and expects its backlog of orders to continue to grow.