Order books open for VW ID.3 First Edition 17 June

Pre-orderers of the VW ID.3 1st Edition can place a binding order for their vehicle from 17 June, as was announced by Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Board for sales. The pre-purchase contracts will also be a test run for the new agency model for the distribution of the ID. models.

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As Stackmann announced via social media, the 30,000 or so pre-orderers of the limited 1st Edition will be able to place binding orders for the ID.3 from 17 June. These customers have already paid a reservation fee of 1,000 euros when they placed their pre-order. According to the VW sales board, the customers will now be contacted “shortly” by their respective VW dealers.

Sweet, sweet anticipation is coming to an end! Our ID.3 1st pre-bookers can order their car from 17th June, 2020❗️
You will be contacted by your dealer shortly!
Thanks for your patience!#emobility #VWID3 #VWID @volkswagen pic.twitter.com/9lvyI9hUaR

— Jürgen Stackmann (@jstackmann) May 5, 2020

It is still unclear exactly what the prices or leasing rates will be, and the final delivery dates have not yet been revealed. It is also still open as to when the regular ID.3 can be ordered and delivered after the special edition for the model launch. In view of various reports of software problems with ID.3, VW was confident that it would be able to meet the announced delivery start “in summer”. Most recently, group boss Herbert Diess had spoken of “great progress” with the software.

The binding purchase contracts of the pre-orderers are also a test run for VW and the dealers in another respect. The sale of the ID.3 coincides with the start of the agency model agreed to by the manufacturer and the dealers. This means that, although the dealer handles the ordering process, the customer concludes the sales contract directly with Volkswagen and not with the car dealership as was previously the case. The dealer receives a fixed margin for the agency, much like any other service.

Volkswagen and the VAPV dealer association negotiated the agency model in February just passed. According to a report in the German publication Automobilwoche, 95 per cent of the dealers have now signed the corresponding contracts. The electric cars based on the MEB as well as the upcoming Premium Platform Electric (PPE) will be sold exclusively via the agency model. This means that a dealer can only sell models off these platforms if they have signed a corresponding agency contract.

Some dealers see advantages in the agency model, even if they are giving up the actual sale. In the past, dealers have had to procure the exhibition vehicles at their own expense, for example, whereas the manufacturer will now provide these. Stock-keeping and financing are now also handled directly by the manufacturer and no longer by the dealerships. As a result, the residual value risk will also be shifted to Volkswagen directly.

Dealers thus have a dual role: in the case of electric cars, they are a service provider for the manufacturer, but in the case of combustion engines, they continue their role as car retailers.

Update 15 May 2020: Volkswagen sales boss Jürgen Stackmann has confirmed the opening of binding pre-orders for the first edition ID.3 on 17 June and added the UK would follow in mid-July. The slight delay is due to the extra time required to gain type approval for right-hand-drive versions of Volkswagen’s first electric car using the MEB platform.

UK prices will start from around £27,500 before the government grant for the entry-level 45kWh version. Volkswagen has yet to confirm a price for the First Edition in Britain but has said to expect it to cost between £36,000 and £39,000.

Stackmann also stressed that deliveries are on track to start this summer, despite the Covid-19 pandemic and software issues. Autoexpress quotes the executive saying: “The focus of the company now is on ID.3. We’re almost ready, and we just need a few more weeks to get the software to where we need it to be. The entire team are working on this topic, and we want to deliver a great quality product on time – and that time is this summer.”

Additional reporting by Nora Manthey, London.

insideevs.com, electrek.co, automobilwoche.de (in German), autocar.co.uk (update UK sales)