Volkswagen has announced the start of series production of the ID.4, its new electric SUV, at the German plant in Zwickau. This model’s commercialization will begin at the end of September, just a few weeks after the first deliveries of the ID.3. However, unlike the latter, the ID.4 will also be sold outside of Europe.
“With the ID.4, Volkswagen is adding an all-electric vehicle to its compact SUV offering, the world’s fastest-growing segment. After ID.3, this is the second model based on the MEB electrical modular platform. The car will be manufactured and sold in Europe, China, and later in the United States, ” said Ralf Brandstätter, CEO of the Volkswagen brand.
⚡️ Volkswagen’s electric offensive continues to gather speed: Series production of our #VWID4 begins in Zwickau!
— Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) August 20, 2020
[ID.4: The vehicle is not yet available for sale in Europe.] https://t.co/1JJfIgtL42
Thomas Ulbrich, a member of the Volkswagen Board responsible for electric mobility, added: “We are meeting the times in the process of Volkswagen’s transformation towards electromobility. ID.4 is now following ID.3. Given the social challenges of recent months, the successful start of production of the ID.4 is an exceptional achievement, for which my appreciation and thanks go especially to the Volkswagen team in Saxony […]”.
Zwickau will be the first Volkswagen Group factory dedicated entirely to the production of electric cars. In 2021, the first year in which the factory will be dedicated exclusively to the manufacture of this type of vehicle, it is expected that around 300,000 cars based on the MEB platform will roll off its production lines.
The pre-production of the Volkswagen ID.4 has also started at the Anting, China plant, while the US factory in Chattanooga will not begin manufacturing the electric SUV until 2022. The decision to produce and market the ID.4 in all three of the world’s leading markets (Europe, China, and the United States) shows this model’s enormous ambition, better adapted to the international scene than the more Europeanized ID.3.