Volkswagen AG’s new orders for its electric vehicles failed to meet the company’s targets in the third quarter, amid weaker global demand and European customers’ reluctance to buy battery-powered cars. “Our order intake is below our ambitious targets due to the lower than expected overall market trend,” Hildegard Wortmann, who oversees sales for the carmaker, said Friday.
Shares declined as much as 2.6 per cent after the company released the results, which included a 5.8 per cent drop in deliveries in China. Europe’s largest carmaker is aiming for EV sales to make up between 8 per cent and 10 per cent of total sales this year, down from an earlier target of 11 per cent. With demand faltering, the company has been forced to lay off temporary workers and cut shifts at its German factories in recent weeks.
Overall sales in Europe and North America helped offset a drop in China during the three months through September.
