Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest manufacturer by volume, has sold out of battery-powered EVs in the US and Europe for this year as persistent supply chain bottlenecks impacted global production.

Vokswagen group, which includes brands such as Porsche, Audi and Škoda, sold more than 99,000 electric models worldwide in the first three months of 2022 as it was hit by a shortage of semiconductors and wiring harnesses made in Ukraine.

Tesla, the world’s largest EV manufacturer delivered more than three times that number in the same quarter. 

VW CEO, Herbert Diess said that since demand for EVs has been strong, that the company has an order backlog in western Europe of 300,000 EVs. He added that customers now placing orders in Europe and the US would not get their cars delivered before 2023.

He said: “We are basically sold out on electric vehicles in Europe and in the United States. And in China, it’s really picking up.”

VW is targeting a total of roughly 700,000 electric vehicle sales for 2022 as it attempts to catch up with Tesla. Production, however, has been hampered, particularly in VW’s largest market, China, where it sold just 28,800 electric cars in the first quarter amid corona virus lockdowns.

Corona virus lockdowns complicates VW’s target of selling at least 140,000 electric cars in China in 2022. The company missed its EV sales targets in the country last year.

The auto industry’s overall sales forecasts for the year have been reduced in recent weeks, as the global economy continues to suffer from rising raw material prices and the war in Ukraine.