Volkswagen New Zealand electrifies its local line up

Friday, 1 July 2022

Volkswagen New Zealand will be welcoming the ID. 4 into its local range early next year.

Volkswagen's road to electrification in New Zealand has been a particularly long one – the company first launched its ID.3 electric hatchback in Europe back in 2019, with no sign of it ever heading here.

But given the way SUVs have dominated the local sales landscape in recent years, it made more sense to wait for the ID. 4 SUV that was based on the same bespoke electric MEB platform. But even that has taken its time to make it to our part of the world, thanks to heavy demand in larger markets.

Volkswagen New Zealand’s Kevin Richards (left) and Greg Leet (right) with an ID. 4 on display at Auckland’s Westfield Newmarket mall.

However, it is now closer than ever, with Volkswagen New Zealand announcing that the ID. 4 and its ‘coupe’ sibling, the ID. 5, will officially land here next year, along with the recently revealed ID. Buzz and ID. Cargo all-electric people mover/van twins, and a range of plug-in hybrid models as well.

“From a passenger perspective, we'll start to see ID. 4 and ID. 5 first, followed very closely by a range of plug-in hybrids; the Golf plug-in, Tiguan plug-in and Passat plug-in,” said Volkswagen New Zealand GM, Greg Leet.

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Leet said that he expected the ID. 4 and ID. 5 “relatively early on in 2023”, with Volkswagen dealers able to start firming up orders later this year. The company will initially launch with two model variants of each.

“At this stage we hope to have customers be able to secure a car in September/October. We’ve got a very slick approach to the way in which we'll be rolling it out, which is really exciting.”

The ID. 4 will be joined by the ID. 5 coupe variant as well.

As far as the brilliantly retro-tinged ID. Buzz goes, Kevin Richards, Volkswagen New Zealand’s head of commercial vehicles, says that the spiritual successor to the original T1 van will arrive a little later in the year, but that dealers have already seen significant interest in both the Buzz and its commercial Cargo variant.

“We’re still working with the factory to find out when we can get serious production,” said Richards, before adding that it would likely be in the second half of the year.

Both Richards and Leet think that the strong interest in the ID. Buzz will see it become a halo model for the brand, but don't expect it to be cheap – the Buzz starts at £57,115 in the UK, or NZ$111,280.

While some brands have restricted EV sales to specific dealers in major centres, Leet says that all of Volkswagen’s 20 dealers across New Zealand will be able to sell and, more importantly, service all of its electric models.

“When it comes to EVs, there are two parts. One is selling the car and one is looking after the car,” he said.

“We're about to launch what I would say is the best EV into the market, and it will be supported by 20 dealerships that will be totally enabled to not just service it, but also repair it. It's a big undertaking, but it is a big advantage too. And it needs to be, because it’s one thing to sell them. It's another to maintain that customer satisfaction.”

One thing that has held up Volkswagen’s EVs from getting here has been a constrained supply due to both the semiconductor shortage and Covid shutdowns around the world, but Leet says the company has a “meaningful” number of ID’s to launch with.

”The further we look forward, the more stable things become. But it is a little while away from us being confident on exactly what that looks like,” he said.

“When we launch a car, particularly like the ID range, we can't just launch with just a handful of cars. It has to be meaningful, and we do have a meaningful number. Although probably not enough. In fact, I'm sure it won’t be enough. But it will certainly be a really, really good start.”

Until the 11th of July, Volkswagen New Zealand have an ID. 4 on display at ‘The Car Store’ in Westfield Newmarket, alongside the recently launched T6 Multivan plug-in hybrid, the brand’s first local PHEV model.

The Multivan will be joined by other PHEVs later next year, with Richards seeing big potential for the plug-in line up. “I think there's a demand for them in New Zealand,” he said.

“For me, it's a perfect compromise – you can run it as a daily driver and use zero fuel on a daily and weekly basis, and then if you want to go further at the weekend, you've got [the ICE engine] as well.

“So having both that and electric vehicles on the horizon is the best of both worlds for us.”