Volkswagen will discontinue direct sales of electric vehicles to private customers under its agency model across Europe, moving distribution back to the traditional dealership structure, the company’s sales chief said, marking a reversal of a strategy introduced with the launch of its electric lineup.
“We rely on the entrepreneurial strength of our dealers—this cannot be replaced by any model,” Martin Sander, sales director for the Volkswagen brand, told Handelsblatt. “That is why, as the Volkswagen brand, we have decided to end the agency model for the sale of electric vehicles across Europe.”
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The shift confirms that the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand will return battery-electric vehicle sales for private customers to the dealer model in all European markets, following an earlier decision that applied initially to Germany and several other countries from January 2026. No specific timeline for completing the transition across Europe was provided. The agency model will continue to apply to fleet customers, which Sander said has “proven successful in this business for years.”
Under the agency approach, introduced in 2020, customers placed orders directly with Volkswagen, while dealers acted as intermediaries and received a fixed fee per vehicle. The model was designed to give the manufacturer direct customer relationships while retaining its dealer network and assuming financial risk. Dealers, however, lost pricing autonomy and profit flexibility, and commissions on electric vehicles were often lower than margins on internal combustion engine models sold under the traditional structure.
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“The coexistence of ICE vehicles under the dealer model and electric vehicles under the agency model created unnecessary complexity for all parties involved,” Sander said.
Volkswagen’s agency push was widely seen as inspired by Tesla, which sells vehicles directly to consumers. Unlike Tesla, however, Volkswagen operates a long-established dealer network, making the transition more complex. The automaker had previously considered extending the agency model to combustion-engine vehicles, a plan that will now be abandoned.
The move aligns Volkswagen with a broader industry reassessment. Jaguar Land Rover has paused plans to roll out the agency model in the UK, while Ford Motor has also stepped back from earlier intentions to adopt the approach, opting for a slower review.