Volkswagen is considering staff reductions at its Zwickau plant in eastern Germany due to weak demand for electric cars. The company plans to let fixed-term contracts expire, potentially impacting several hundred employees by the end of October. Out of approximately 10,700 total employees at the factory, more than 2,000 are on fixed-term contracts.
According to Axios, The nationwide supply of EVs in stock has swelled nearly 350% this year, to more than 92,000 units.
- That’s a 92-day supply — roughly three months’ worth of EVs, and nearly twice the industry average.
- For comparison, dealers have a relatively low 54 days’ worth of gasoline-powered vehicles in inventory as they rebound from pandemic-related supply chain interruptions.
- In normal times, there’s usually a 70-day supply.
- Notably, Cox’s inventory data doesn’t include Tesla, which sells direct to consumers.
One reason electric cars and trucks are sitting for longer in dealerships’ lots is price. EVs are more expensive than gas cars, and current offerings for different models are limited.
Another factor is a market in transition. Early adopters aside, many customers are excited about the possibility of EVs, but aren’t quite ready to take the plunge.
A June report from Cox Automotive found a huge gap between people who want electric cars and those who are buying them. Over 50 percent of drivers polled were considering buying an EV, while total electric sales made up less than 8 percent of the market share.
But with lower prices and a wider range of vehicles coming, that may be about to change, analysts say. Later this year, a slate of larger and more family-oriented EVs are due to come online, from the Chevrolet Equinox to the Kia EV9.
Companies are also spending billions of dollars to knit together a national network of EV chargers to ease drivers’ range anxiety.
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