Sales of the Munich-based carmaker’s partially electric vehicles have plummeted in China in recent years.
(Photo: dpa)
For years, German automakers have been aggressively promoting their plug-in hybrids. The best of two worlds is combined in the partially electric vehicles: the combustion engine and the electric motor. Drivers do not have to worry about being stranded when the batteries are running low and there is no charging station nearby.
There is almost nothing wrong with this story. The motivation of the car manufacturers was completely different from that of taking away the fear of electromobility from customers.
Volkswagen & Co. with advertising offensive
One of the real intentions behind the advertising offensive was to use the plug-in hybrid to extend the transition from combustion engines to electromobility, which was initiated too late. Because the manufacturers could continue to smuggle their large combustion engines into the partially electric vehicles. Instead of converting their own plants to electromobility as quickly as possible, the production lines on which the combustion engines were built could continue to be used to capacity.
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