PORSCHE, AUDI EVS CHARGE UP GLOBAL DEMAND FOR ELECTRIC CARS
More and more forward-thinking consumers embrace benefits of fully electric Taycan, e-tron range
Porsche and Audi are successfully driving their electrification charge, with more customers around the world embracing the brands’ fully electric models.
Global deliveries of fully electric Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron models further accelerated in the first quarter of the year, resulting in the combined sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV) produced by the Volkswagen Group to rise 65 percent during the same period. The robust demand for BEV models of the Volkswagen Group — in which Porsche and Audi belong — has caused an order backlog of 300,000 units in Western Europe alone. Customers in Europe and the US are not expected to get their newly ordered BEVs until 2023.
The Taycan once again emerged as the most popular Porsche passenger car, after the brand’s SUVs, as sales of the fully electric model reached 9,470 units from January to March — 4 percent more than the previous year. The increase in Taycan sales bucks Porsche’s performance during the same period.
At the same time, worldwide deliveries of Audi’s fully electric e-tron range leaped by 66.2 percent in the first three months of 2022, representing 24,236 vehicles sold. The result follows the e-tron models’ stellar full-year performance in 2021, which saw sales increase by more than double during the period. The brand introduced more electric models than conventional cars last year, allowing its product portfolio of fully electric models to grow more than double as well.
In the Philippines, Porsche and Audi are the only global brands to have sold fully electric vehicles in relevant numbers. Porsche has been offering the Taycan in the country since 2020, and demand for the four-door sports car has consistently increased since then. Leveraging on this momentum, Audi introduced in February the fully electric e-tron SUV, e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT — all of which met by strong demand from consumers, and are poised to duplicate the sales performance of the Taycan.
PGA Cars, the partner of Porsche and Audi (as well as Lamborghini and Bentley) in the Philippines, through its “FutureNow” program has poured an initial investment of more than P300 million for the construction of facilities specifically designed and equipped to address the unique requirements and safety standards of electric vehicles. Additional investments are earmarked to further support the domestic adoption of electric vehicles.
Comprising the FutureNow program are various initiatives designed to support the use of these fully electric vehicles, such as collaborating with stakeholders in establishing charging facilities in strategic destinations to complement the residential charging solutions already provided by Porsche and Audi.
SM Supermalls, in powering up its own sustainability efforts, has started installing charging facilities for electric vehicles in some of its malls. Additional charging points now available to users of fully electric vehicles can be found at SM Aura Premier, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall and SM North EDSA, with more malls to follow soon. The use of the charging stations is offered for free.