Stalled: Vw's Electric Pivot Falters

The manufacturer's deliveries risk slumping again because its namesake VW brand doesn't have a new electric car coming in 2025, with key products pushed back amid delays developing software. The problems are starkest in China, where manufacturers led by BYD are dominating with affordable electric and hybrid models. In the US, where President-elect Donald Trump is threatening tariff hikes, VW still doesn't offer any bakkies popular among American consumers.

The voids in VW's line-up are complicating CEO Oliver Blume's bid to restructure the industrial behemoth, which is reeling from overcapacity and intensifying competition. While Blume struck a deal late last year with unions to cut costs in Germany and is counting on partnerships with Rivian Automotive and Xpeng to bolster Volkswagen's offerings in the US and China, those new models won't be available until later this decade.

"For the next year or so, VW is forced to sell old technology to new customers," said Matthias Schmidt, an automotive analyst based near Hamburg. "That's going to be difficult."

Volkswagen is still profiting handsomely from its popular combustion-engine models, but its bet on fully electric vehicles isn't playing out as planned. Sales are stagnating in Europe and slumping in the US as customers are turned off by waning subsidies and patchy charging infrastructure. The manufacturer has contributed to the malaise by introducing its first electric models years later than planned and with glitchy software.

Next-generation models that analysts rate as possible gamechangers - including the ID. 2all, an EV priced below 25 000 - won't start deliveries until 2026. When previewing the car two years ago, VW said it will be as spacious as the Golf and as affordable as the Polo, two models that have sold a more than 57 million units combined since their introduction in the mid-1970s.