VW to launch ID.4 deliveries in March
VW is starting customer deliveries of the ID.4 this month. The first ID.4s will be handed over to customers in many European markets before the end of March. Deliveries in the USA began a few days ago, while Europe will follow with Germany starting on 26 March.
A total of 23,500 orders for the vehicle had already been received by February across Europe, according to Volkswagen. The ID.4 has also arrived at dealers in the USA and the first units have already been delivered. As VW brand boss Ralf Brandstätter indicated this week, 150,000 units of the ID.4 are to be delivered in 2021. Over the life cycle, VW wants to sell more than two million ID.4s.
The German carmaker is apparently not only relying on traditional sales or the agency model introduced for the MEB models but is currently testing other sales channels. As of this week, customers can prepare essential steps for the purchase of an ID.3 and ID.4 online and then complete the purchase process at their local dealer. From summer onwards, customers in Europe will then be able to go through the entire purchase process of the ID.family online, from configuration to the conclusion of a leasing contract.
VW also announced that the manufacturer is testing a subscription model for the ID.3 in six German cities this summer. The pilot projects will also offer usage-based billing and add-on functions such as navigation services for the first time and test their acceptance.
“We successfully managed the coronavirus pandemic. After a challenging first half of the year, we fought back with strict cost discipline and a strong sales performance,” Brandstätter said on the occasion of the annual figures. “Volkswagen posted an operating profit of 454 million euros before special items and so even operated profitably in the crisis year 2020. Even in the exceptionally challenging times of the pandemic, we were therefore able to make substantial investments in the future.”
Sales were 71.1 billion euros (2019: 88.4 billion euros), with deliveries at 5.3 million vehicles (2019: 6.3 million units). VW also said it had reduced net inventories by ten per cent “by strictly aligning production with customer demand”. “In 2020, which was an exceptional year, safeguarding our financial freedom was a critical success factor,” said Volkswagen CFO Alexander Seitz. “We carefully scrutinized all our projects and made a rigorous list of priorities. The strong performance in the second half of the year shows that we implemented the right measures.”
In total, the VW brand plans to deliver around 300,000 all-electric vehicles to customers this year, including the aforementioned 150,000 ID.4s, with the remainder likely to come from the ID.3, the first examples of the ID.5 in Europe and the ID.6 in China, as well as a few more e-Ups. In addition, there will be about 150,000 hybrids. With the all-wheel-drive version ID.4 GTX, the coupé ID.5 and the ID.6 X/Crozz for the Chinese market, VW will be adding more electric models this year.
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