jack8trades
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From insideevs.com October 2015 Plug-In Electric Vehicle Sales Report Card:
Volkswagen e-Golf: When the dieselgate scandal hit, it raised a lot of questions for the future of the VW Group. Would diesels be wound down? Would the EV program be pulled back? How would consumer sales be affected.
For EVs, VW’s emission problems were a blessing in disguise. VW quickly, and more closely, embraced the technology during the month…and put lots of deep discounts on all its models to try and prop up sales/offset the bad press.
For the e-Golf, a record 596 were sold…which amusingly was a 596,000% increase over the 1 sold a year ago. Overall the VW brand was up .24% during the month – so without the plug-in Golf, sales would have declined in the US.
Previously in September, VW sold 343 emission free Golfs.
Looking at the strong European sales, and the amount of EVs VW is selling from such a limited inventory in the US, the company has served notice that they won’t be relegated to the small volume compliance category of EV sales.
Adding to the demand in the US, the company introduced a new, less expensive SE trim level which is arriving now. The new trim level brings the base starting price of the e-Golf down to $29,815.
How high could sales go? Still fairly hard to say without a deeper inventory allocation, but the 500+ per month level ‘in season’ doesn’t seem hard to fathom today – at least when (and if) inventory levels get high enough to support that many sales.
Heading into November, national inventory of the e-Golf sat at around 600 copies.
The e-Golf has been rated at 83 miles by the EPA and carries a 24.2 kWh LEAF-like battery.
Volkswagen e-Golf: When the dieselgate scandal hit, it raised a lot of questions for the future of the VW Group. Would diesels be wound down? Would the EV program be pulled back? How would consumer sales be affected.
For EVs, VW’s emission problems were a blessing in disguise. VW quickly, and more closely, embraced the technology during the month…and put lots of deep discounts on all its models to try and prop up sales/offset the bad press.
For the e-Golf, a record 596 were sold…which amusingly was a 596,000% increase over the 1 sold a year ago. Overall the VW brand was up .24% during the month – so without the plug-in Golf, sales would have declined in the US.
Previously in September, VW sold 343 emission free Golfs.
Looking at the strong European sales, and the amount of EVs VW is selling from such a limited inventory in the US, the company has served notice that they won’t be relegated to the small volume compliance category of EV sales.
Adding to the demand in the US, the company introduced a new, less expensive SE trim level which is arriving now. The new trim level brings the base starting price of the e-Golf down to $29,815.
How high could sales go? Still fairly hard to say without a deeper inventory allocation, but the 500+ per month level ‘in season’ doesn’t seem hard to fathom today – at least when (and if) inventory levels get high enough to support that many sales.
Heading into November, national inventory of the e-Golf sat at around 600 copies.
The e-Golf has been rated at 83 miles by the EPA and carries a 24.2 kWh LEAF-like battery.
