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interface news reporter | liu jiaxin

more and more multinational automakers are becoming more pragmatic in their electrification transformation.volvo said on wednesday it had abandoned its goal of selling only pure electric vehicles by 2030. due to changing market conditions and weaker-than-expected customer demand, volvo adjusted its electrification goal to plug-in hybrids and pure battery models accounting for at least 90% of its sales by 2030.

volvo's electrification goal announced in 2021 stated that it would gradually phase out all internal combustion engine vehicle products, including hybrid vehicles, and only sell pure electric vehicles by 2030. in march of this year, volvo also discontinued its diesel engine models.

including volvo, many large multinational automobile groups have previously followed the trend of electrification and responded to the eu's ban on fuel, and have announced that they will accelerate the electrification transformation and move towards the goal of full electrification.

today, these companies are facing the realities of slowing global demand for electric vehicles.it has begun to slow down the electrification process, extend the operating time of fuel vehicles, and incorporate more hybrid models into future production plans.

mercedes-benz announced earlier this year that it would abandon its all-electric vehicle plan, saying it would no longer stick to its original goal of fully switching to electric vehicle sales in major markets by 2030.

companyceo ola källenius said this does not mean that mercedes-benz will give up electrification, but will develop both fuel vehicles and electric vehicles. the current plan is to launch a new lineup of internal combustion engine models by 2027, allowing internal combustion engines to continue until the 2030s.

the change in strategy comes from the high r&d expenditure and heavy losses of electric vehicles. the company's financial situation is affected by the electric vehicle business.the transition from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles may take longer than expectedthis also means that in the process of electrification transformation, as the hegemon of the fuel era, traditional automobile brands need to maintain a higher-profit share of the fuel vehicle business in order to balance the company's profits and losses.

ford's financial report last year showed that although ford turned losses into profits last year and ultimately achieved a net profit of us$4.3 billion, the loss of electric vehicles was still as high as us$4.7 billion. currently, the research and development of pure electric vehicles accounts for 40% of capital expenditures.

another reality that we have to face is that the market demand for pure electric vehicles has begun to slow down when electric vehicles are far from being able to amortize costs and make profits through large-scale sales.

looking at germany, europe's largest auto market, the number of pure electric vehicle registrations in july this year fell 36.8% year-on-year, and the market share of newly registered electric vehicles in the first half of the year fell from 15.8% in the same period last year to 12.5%. the development of electric vehicles in europe is not as good as expected due to factors such as high electricity prices, high vehicle prices, and the decline in electric subsidies.

the strategic choice of slowing down electrification and maintaining the dual-track development of fuel and electric vehicles is based more on multiple considerations of the current market situation, various competitive pressures and profitability.

volkswagen, which has attracted much attention recently, is considering closing its german factory. this is a cost-cutting option it has chosen amid a number of unfavorable circumstances, including a declining chinese market, increasing competitive pressure, increased revenue but not profits, and a decline in global sales.