Traditional carmakers are retreating on all fronts after losing the EV revolution, and Volkswagen emerged as the biggest loser. The German carmaker is pivoting to plug-in hybrids to compensate for the lackluster EV sales. However, the elephant in the room is its software problems, affecting all vehicle lineups across Volkswagen's many brands.
Last year, we saw the first signs that the EV revolution might not go as planned for many traditional carmakers. Many blamed customers losing interest in electric vehicles for their disappointing performance, even though the EV market is still growing while sales of combustion vehicles continued to trend lower. Some manufacturers continued to expand their EV market share, but most legacy carmakers were forced to admit that their electric cars failed to convince enough buyers.
In the US market, Ford and GM were among the most bullish about their chances of surpassing Tesla as the EV market leader. GM's CEO Mary Barra repeated this mantra for so long that it became the laugh of the town until she finally admitted that topping Tesla is nearly impossible at this stage. Stellantis, on the other hand, has followed its European instincts and kept as reluctant as possible to launch any electric vehicle.
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