Volkswagen in Denial Amidst Global Race for Electric Vehicles!
- Published on 02/03/2026 15:54
- Modified on 02/03/2026 15:55
Volkswagen surpasses the milestone of two million electric cars delivered, but the industrial pace of the German giant raises questions.
Volkswagen announces that it has exceeded two million 100% electric vehicles delivered. This is an important figure for a historic manufacturer that has been undergoing a transformation toward electrification for more than a decade.
The two-millionth model, an ID.3 produced in Zwickau and handed over to a customer at the Dresden Glassworks, embodies this concrete transition. Behind the symbol lie massive investments, adapted factories, and a range now structured around electric platforms… but the global market is no longer measured solely by the internal milestones of manufacturers.
BYD and Tesla set a different pace
In 2025, BYD sold about 2.26 million 100% electric cars. In just one year, the Chinese group surpassed the total volume accumulated by Volkswagen since the launch of its electric strategy.
What Volkswagen has built over several years now corresponds to a year’s production of the current global leader in the electric segment. And what about Tesla, which delivered approximately 1.65 million vehicles in 2025 with only 5 models in its catalog? Among these 5 models, two vehicles nearing the end of their life, the Model S and X, and a pickup with confidential sales! This brings Tesla’s total to over 6 million cars produced since the group’s industrial start a little over a decade ago. The American company, born with electric vehicles, already shows a volume depth far exceeding the milestone reached today by the German giant.
A revealing industrial gap
The comparison is quite stark! Volkswagen’s two million electric vehicles now represent a standard annual volume for the new market leaders. Emerging players have built their growth around a model designed natively for electric vehicles, with an extremely rapid capacity increase. Historical manufacturers, on the other hand, must transform existing infrastructures while simultaneously managing thermal engines and electric platforms.
And the arrival of new Asian technological players will not help the situation for our European champions. Since the launch of its first electric sedan, the SU7, in 2024, the Chinese technology group has quickly passed industrial milestones. In less than two years, the cumulative production of its two electric models, the SU7 sedan and the YU7 SUV, has exceeded 500,000 vehicles produced!
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The milestone crossed by Volkswagen is undoubtedly a strong symbol of industrial transformation. But in an industry where the annual volumes of the new giants now exceed the historical totals of some established groups, the question is no longer solely about progress; it is about pace. In the global race for electric vehicles, execution speed now matters more than the symbol.
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This page is translated from the original post "Volkswagen dans le déni face à la course mondiale à l’électrique !" in French.
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