BERLIN -- Volkswagen plans to restart sales of the battery-powered version of its Up minicar to meet growing demand for affordabe electric cars.
VW stopped selling the e-Up in 2020 when government incentives to encourage EV purchases caused a surge in demand. The model was not designed for high volumes and selling it with discounts was not profitable, according to German press reports.
But the sales success of small electric cars such as the Renault Zoe and the Dacia Spring shows there is market demand for low-cost EVs.
"We had temporarily taken the e-Up off the market in 2020 because delivery times had risen dramatically due to high demand," VW said in an emailed statement to German IT news website Golem. "Now it has been decided to reintroduce the e-Up into the order program."
According to a report published in Automotive News Europe sister publication Automobilwoche, the first dealers are already putting up lists for prospective buyers of the e-Up.