As of: February 25, 2024, 6:39 p.m
By: Patrick Freiwah
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Volkswagen is massively pushing forward its electric car plans and investing billions in Spain.
This causes the boss of the VW subsidiary Seat to frown.
Wolfsburg/Martorell - The electric car age has dawned.
But even though the range of electric vehicles is growing, models without combustion engines are viewed with suspicion in many places.
There are markets in which e-mobility is being promoted - such as Germany, France or China - but in other nations the spread is stalling enormously.
In addition, there is the unclear situation outside the European Union: combustion engines seem to have a long future there (the most recent example: the US car market).
E-mobility: VW and Seat are investing billions in Spain
But there are also laggards in the EU: This includes Spain, where only a little more than five percent of new cars sold in 2023 will be purely electric, as the
Elektroauto-News.net
portal describes.
However, that doesn't stop Volkswagen from raising billions of dollars with its Spanish subsidiary Seat.
“It is our goal to electrify Spain and we are ready to invest more than seven billion euros in electrification together with external suppliers (...),” the company announced in 2022. This includes the construction of a battery cell factory nearby Valencia, where electric cars will roll off the assembly line from 2026.
Seat electric car Born at a presentation in Berlin: The VW subsidiary is making massive investments in Spain.
© IPON/IMAGO
But the economic situation in Europe now looks different - and sales of electric cars are not going as well as some car companies imagine.
Seat boss Wayne Griffiths now expressed concerns
to
Automotive News Europe .
Seat has lost leadership in its home market of Spain
The difficult situation for electric cars in Spain is based on a weak market, with the patchy charging infrastructure also playing a role.
In addition, VW and Seat have strong international competition in the fight for sales:
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There are manufacturers like Tesla, Toyota and Hyundai, and Chinese manufacturers are also playing an increasingly important role: 37,000 new cars from the Middle Kingdom were sold in Spain in 2023, according to the Association of National Car Dealers.
Seat and Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths gives a speech.
© David Zorrakino/EUROPA PRESS/dpa
This is why the Seat brand is no longer the leader in new registrations in Spain: According to
Auto Motor und Sport,
Toyota, Kia/Hyundai and the parent brand from Wolfsburg passed in 2023.
Seat boss has concerns about electric cars - “I’m very worried”
In 2023, the Spanish VW subsidiary was able to return to profitability after a long period of time, and things are going particularly well in Germany.
Is there a risk of the trend reversing again with the focus on electric cars?
Griffiths, head of the Seat and Cupra brands since 2020, explains: “I am very worried.
Next year we will produce electric cars, but for whom?
If only they make up 5 percent of the market,” says the British native.
Why the Volkswagen manager still has to worry: One reason why electric cars are rarely sold in Spain is the high prices, describes
Elektroauto-News.net
.
According to a study, most Spaniards are not prepared to spend more than 28,000 euros on a new car.
And neither VW nor Seat currently have anything to offer in this price range.
(PF)