Volkswagen, which fell behind its competitors in the electric car revolution, also suffered a great loss in China. In particular, 2024 has witnessed the rise of electric cars for the Chinese market. The rapid decline in gasoline car sales caused Volkswagen to suffer loss of blood in the market.

Volkswagen melted down in the Chinese market due to electric car sales

In China, electric car sales have surpassed gasoline car sales. This great rise changed all the balances in the market. For years, Volkswagen was by far the best-selling brand in the Chinese market. However, increasing electric car sales in the last two years seem to have changed all balances.

Sharing on the X platform, TUSIAD Germany representative Alper Üçok shared important statistics about the blood loss experienced by Volkswagen in China. According to shared statistics, Volkswagen sold 4.2 million cars in the Chinese market in 2019.

The brand, which was the leader of the market at that time, lost its leadership in 2023 when electric car sales increased. Accordingly, BYD is the market leader in the share of Chinese automobile sales in 2023 with 11.9 percent.

Volkswagen sold 3.2 million cars in 2023 and fell to second place with a market share of 10.3 percent. Volkswagen still makes 40 percent of its sales in the Chinese market. In this sense, the profits of the brand in the Chinese market decreased from 4-5 billion euros annually to 1.5-2 billion euros, that is, by more than fifty percent.

The reason for this blood loss is given in the second table. Accordingly, Volkswagen has only been able to get a 3 percent share in the market with electric car sales. BYD, the leader of the market, has a share of 25.6 percent and Tesla has a share of 11.7 percent. In short, Volkswagen paid the price for not being competitive enough in the electric car market by losing blood in the Chinese market.

Do you think this bleeding for Volkswagen sales will continue? We are curious about your comments and opinions about the news.