According to VW e-mobility boss, Thomas Ulbrich, the carmaker’s upcoming ID.5 coupe-style SUV, a sister model to the ID.4 crossover and ID.3 hatchback, will be sold exclusively in Europe. Sales are expected to commence next year with Ulbrich telling Automobilwoche that his company has no plans to sell the ID.5 anywhere else for the time being. Whether that will change some day, remains to be seen.
Partly responsible for this decision is
actually the ID.4 model, which will serve as the ID family’s volume EV, as well
as VW’s first global electric car built on three continents simultaneously. The German brand has no fewer than 500,000 ID.4 units
planned for 2025, although in total, Ulbrich expects VW to begin selling 1
million EVs each year by 2023.
The ID.4 will go on sale in Europe this
year, with production taking place at VW’s Zwickau plant in Germany. The fully
electric crossover will also be built at plants in Anting and Foshan, China,
with U.S. production kicking off in Chattanooga, Tennessee as well. As for the
ID.3, the EV hatchback is already selling in Europe, with China scheduled to
receive it next. It is however considered too small to sell successfully in the
U.S.
This brings us back to the ID.5, which
should be able to match up with a Tesla Model Y in terms of size – so there’s
no reason to believe that it wouldn’t do well in the States. Of course, it’s
possible that the VW Group might want to keep the ID.5 from stepping on the
2021 Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback’s toes.
