Volkswagen Is A Sneaky EV Success Story

If you were to judge the electric vehicle transition by the gloomiest headlines, you might think no car company under the sun—save for BYD, maybe—is having any luck selling electric cars. The reality a little more nuanced. While every old-school manufacturer has had its stumbles and face plants, many are still making steady progress. 

Take Volkswagen, for example. The brand announced on Friday that it had sold its 2 millionth electric car, an ID.3 hatchback. To be clear, we’re talking about just VW here, not the group’s other brands like Porsche and Audi.

While VW has been in the EV game for over a decade, the overwhelming majority of those sales happened in just the last few years across its modern electric lineup. To date, VW says that globally it has sold roughly 628,000 ID.3 hatchbacks and 901,000 ID.4/ID.5 crossovers. The ID.7, available as both a sedan and a wagon, is VW’s new best-selling EV, accounting for 132,000 sales since its launch in 2023. Not too shabby.

From a U.S. vantage point, VW’s electrification efforts haven’t looked as successful. That may explain why the strong numbers above stuck out to me so much. 

The ID.4 and ID. Buzz van, VW’s sole EVs in this market, were both were hit by recalls, so sales have been rocky. The latter is skipping the 2026 model year in the U.S., which doesn’t exactly signal booming demand. We never ended up getting the ID.7. And let’s be honest: Regulatory rollbacks and the end of EV incentives have in very real terms made the U.S. a less hospitable place to sell electric cars than other parts of the world. 

But in its home market, VW is making strides. The company is now Europe’s biggest seller of EVs, eclipsing a shrinking Tesla. While the U.S. market for electric cars hit a rough patch, the brand’s European EV sales grew by roughly 50%, hitting 247,900 units. Last year, it sold 382,000 all-electric vehicles worldwide, about the same as the year before. 

VW has struggled to create next-generation software for vehicles, something a joint-venture with Rivian may help with. It’s facing a dark mood for electrification in the U.S., and that has pushed it to develop hybrid offerings. And VW is grappling with intensifying competition from homegrown Chinese automakers in that market.

Still, there’s good reason to believe that VW’s EV momentum will continue into 2026. That comes down to product. Specifically: more of it, plus more affordable options. 

Despite EV model delays and cancellations being the strategy du jour, Volkswagen is pressing ahead with several new launches this year. The ID. Polo arrives this year as VW’s cheapest EV, coming in at around 25,000 euros. It’s one of four small electric models the brand plans to release out in 2026. That’s a smart move: EVs that are priced more in line with combustion rivals are what’s needed to take the electric market to the next level. Volkswagen thinks they’ll be good for its business too. 

“These new models make electromobility accessible to even more customers,” said Board Member for Sales Martin Sander in a Friday statement. “Our aim is to introduce attractive, affordable electric vehicles for everyday use into the high-volume small car segment and, in so doing, take the next growth steps in our transformation.”

Contact the author: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com