VW ID.4 Unveiled Today

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

They could follow the Tesla playbook and get spare parts at Home Depot:
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[RonTCat]

Tesla will face a bit of a challenge in Germany. Hopefully building a plant will help.

They'll face a fanboy situation, but now they'll be on the opposite end of it. Germans consumers are particularly loyal to their home corporations (good for them, actually), so any VW BEV will get sales even if it doesn't measure up to a Tesla offering. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
?

 

[trutolife27]

Tesla will face a bit of a challenge in Germany. Hopefully building a plant will help.

They'll face a fanboy situation, but now they'll be on the opposite end of it. Germans consumers are particularly loyal to their home corporations (good for them, actually), so any VW BEV will get sales even if it doesn't measure up to a Tesla offering. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
?

will Have to agree that is a very hard market to thrive in.

 

[malba2366]

Tesla will face a bit of a challenge in Germany. Hopefully building a plant will help.

They'll face a fanboy situation, but now they'll be on the opposite end of it. Germans consumers are particularly loyal to their home corporations (good for them, actually), so any VW BEV will get sales even if it doesn't measure up to a Tesla offering. We'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
?

They will face in the rest of Europe too. There is a huge VW bias in most of Europe.

 

[StephanHR]

will Have to agree that is a very hard market to thrive in.

Ford is very popular especially around Cologne; (there is also a plant there) I drive by there every day. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mach E sells well here. Tesla against VW will be exciting, but I think VW is unbeatable because of its ties in Germany.

 

[RonTCat]

Ford is very popular especially around Cologne; (there is also a plant there) I drive by there every day. I wouldn't be surprised if the Mach E sells well here. Tesla against VW will be exciting, but I think VW is unbeatable because of its ties in Germany.

There is also an Engineering Center nearby, and a nice research facility in Aachen.

 

[trutolife27]

Q&A: VW of America CEO on emissions scandal, pandemic sales, future of EVs
Tom Krisher
AP Auto Writer
Detroit – Ever since Volkswagen got caught cheating on U.S. emissions tests five years ago, the automaker has been trying to regain the confidence of American consumers. Judging by sales figures, the efforts are starting taking hold.

Scott Keogh, VW of America’s CEO since 2018, says the company has worked to rebuild trust with big plans for clean electric vehicles. He spoke to The Associated Press about the German automaker’s U.S. image and changes that are coming to the auto business. His remarks have been edited for length and clarity.

Question: The diesel emissions scandal was pretty disastrous for VW. But sales were rising in the U.S., at least until the pandemic. Is the scandal now behind you?

Answer: So if I look at a customer’s point of view, we’re seeing near-record loyalty for Volkswagen. If I look at our conquests (pulling buyers from other brands), particularly our SUVs, we’re getting about 70%. What matters to me is getting the brand back to where it belongs. And that is being loved by Americans, not disliked by Americans. When you look at the peak (of the emissions scandal), our brand was actively avoided by nearly 30% of the market. We’ve got that number down to 13, 14%. In life as individuals, we all have bumps, bruises and scars. You never forget them. But there also are these things that allow you to move forward. I believe profoundly America has moved on. I almost never want to say it’s completely gone because it’s almost the thing we want to take with us, to make us a better company.

Q: But you’ve still got a big segment that doesn’t like you?

A: Any brand has 8% or 9% avoidance. For whatever it is, they don’t like you. We have a few points to go. That’s where we were before the crisis, somewhere around 9%, right with the industry.

Q: Do auto sales recover from the pandemic next year?

A: The market in the U.S. will probably be down 14% or 15% in 2020. I would anticipate Volkswagen being down around 10%. So we’re gaining share. What do I see in 2021? I see the overall car market being maybe 15.4 million (vehicles sold). I think the market is going to land at 14.5 million this year. It’s going to add another million units. A quick look at the American consumer: I think consumption is about at 2019 levels now. They’re spending significantly less on restaurants, travel and services, and they’re spending more on durable goods, vehicles or other things. If you look at the savings rate, you’re seeing strong numbers. When COVID gets tamped down, that’s going to get the American consumer even more engaged than they are now.

Q: Early in the pandemic, shoppers and dealers went digital with cars being delivered to consumers. Is this the end of haggling?

A: I think it’s a significant shift in that direction. One thing I love about the independent franchise network is when there is a challenge, nothing happens faster than when your very business is at stake. We see it with their cost cutting, and we’ve seen it with their innovation. Pickup and delivery. Bang. They do it within a day for service and for sales. So is the trend going there? 100%. That’s how consumers want to transact. They want to see transparent and clear. It gives you confidence that the deal you made is similar to the deal that was signed across town or across the state.

Q: You’ve got the ID.4 electric SUV coming in March, and the company is spending $88 billion globally to develop battery vehicles through 2025. There have to be more EVs for the U.S.?

A: More are coming. We will be bringing the magical ID Buzz (new Microbus). This takes all the nostalgia and magic of the bus, makes it electrified. We have two more products, but nothing we are announcing right now. We’re not going to get where we need to without having a portfolio of electric vehicles.

Q: Why spend that much when electric vehicles are so small now?

A: We are betting on the future. The marketplace right now is at 2 (percentage) points. But every single survey we look at, we’re seeing numbers, particularly in the (small) SUV segment, 30%, 40% of consumers say electric will be my next car. We can sit tight, hold our ground, wait. The market becomes 16% electric, and we think now it’s big enough to go get it. By that stage, the competitors are on their second generation vehicle. Then we come with our car, late to the game. We don’t want to be late. We want to lead.

 

[trutolife27]

This sums it up. Either start now or get passed up

Q: Why spend that much when electric vehicles are so small now?

A: We are betting on the future. The marketplace right now is at 2 (percentage) points. But every single survey we look at, we’re seeing numbers, particularly in the (small) SUV segment, 30%, 40% of consumers say electric will be my next car. We can sit tight, hold our ground, wait. The market becomes 16% electric, and we think now it’s big enough to go get it. By that stage, the competitors are on their second generation vehicle. Then we come with our car, late to the game. We don’t want to be late. We want to lead.

 

[BlueMach]

This sums it up. Either start now or get passed up

Q: Why spend that much when electric vehicles are so small now?

A: We are betting on the future. The marketplace right now is at 2 (percentage) points. But every single survey we look at, we’re seeing numbers, particularly in the (small) SUV segment, 30%, 40% of consumers say electric will be my next car. We can sit tight, hold our ground, wait. The market becomes 16% electric, and we think now it’s big enough to go get it. By that stage, the competitors are on their second generation vehicle. Then we come with our car, late to the game. We don’t want to be late. We want to lead.

They are by all accounts well suited to lead (perhaps not in the US due to their small footprint) with the investments they've made. The ID.4 looks like a very solid and extremely competitive product, ID.3 seems to be doing well in Europe, even Ford is looking to the ID.4's platform for European BEVs. I'm not holding out hopes for high ID.4 volumes in 2021 in the US due to European supply, but 2022 I am very excited for.

We should all be excited about more EVs on the road, regardless of what badge is on... where the grille used to go

 

[trutolife27]

VW ID Buzz electric bus delayed until 2023
5 hrs ago

VW ID Buzz electric bus delayed until 2023

Covid Hits hard.


Flower Power is going to have to wait a little longer: Volkswagen's long-awaited ID Buzz electric microbus has been delayed until 2023. The retro-styled, battery-powered van was first shown in 2017 at the Detroit Auto Show and had been promised for 2022 deliveries.

© Provided by Roadshow VW even let us take a quick spin in its one-off concept back in 2017. Roadshow
That news comes courtesy of Automotive News Europe, whose publisher, Jason Stein, interviewed VW of America CEO Scott Keogh at a virtual CES panel this week. According to the new report, the ID Buzz's yearlong holdup is being blamed on production prioritization issues at VW's Hanover, Germany, commercial-vehicle plant. That same factory is also earmarked to produce a smaller battery-powered commercial cargo van alongside the Buzz for the European market, and the German automaker apparently plans to prioritize initial deliveries of these vans for customers on its home continent instead of shoppers in US and Canada.

© Andrew Trahan Photography LLC
VW even let us take a quick spin in its one-off concept back in 2017.
With its friendly, nostalgic looks that recall VW's beloved Microbuses and Transporters, which remain a part of '60s and '70s pop-culture iconography to this day, the ID Buzz promises to be a unique product that should draw a lot of traffic into the company's showrooms.

Part of VW's big-budget bet on EVs following the company's Dieselgate emissions scandal, the ID Buzz is being proceeded in European showrooms by a more conventional ID 3 electric hatchback, as well as the ID 4 crossover, a compact SUV that will be VW's first ground-up electric vehicle offered in North America. The latter two models are already in production at a different German factory, in Zwickhau, but all three ID models are based on the company's MEB scalable EV platform.

Suffice it to say, there's a lot of interest in the ID Buzz, and delaying this iconoclastic vehicle for another year is likely to sting VW of America's dealer network, which was hit with a 10% downturn in business in 2020 thanks in part to the coronavirus.
VW did not immediately return Roadshow's request for comment on this story.

 

[Thevanin]

That's a shame. I'd never buy one but I think the Buzz is one of the coolest announced BEVs. I can't wait to start seeing them on the streets.

 

[BlueMach]

That's a shame. I'd never buy one but I think the Buzz is one of the coolest announced BEVs. I can't wait to start seeing them on the streets.

It makes sense, though. With the rise of e-commerce the demand for cargo vans is through the roof right now, and I bet they're seeing a bigger opportunity to just blast out as many of the BEV cargo version as they can in 2022 before turning to the lower volume retail Buzz.

 

[trutolife27]

Battle lines are being drawn.

 

[Lucky luke]

it is unfortunate that Volkswagen constantly has huge problems with the software of their electric vehicles

 

[trutolife27]

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