The Volkswagen Group will suspend production of the CUPRA Born and Volkswagen ID.3 during the first two weeks of October due to weak demand. Both electric compacts are produced at the German plant in Zwickau, although the ID.3 is also assembled in Dresden. Manufacturing of both vehicles will resume on October 16.
According to German media reports, sales of the zero-emissions range ID. In Europe, they are going through a critical moment, something that contrasts with the increasing weight that electric cars have in the market (they already account for one in every five deliveries on the old continent). Why this situation?
The problem would lie in the lack of competitiveness of Volkswagen’s proposals compared to rivals such as MG or Tesla. With a starting price of almost 40,000 euros in Germany, the ID.3 costs the same as the Tesla Model 3, which belongs to a higher category and offers better performance and range, as well as 10,000 euros more than the MG4 of equivalent dimensions.
Rumors indicate that other European manufacturers such as Renault plan to adjust their rates in the short term to reactivate demand and stand up to newcomers; Thus, it is expected that the Mégane E-TECH will receive a significant discount at the end of the year, coinciding with the arrival of the Scénic E-TECH.
Volkswagen concentrates its efforts on the development of the ambitious ID.2
Unlike Renault or Tesla, Volkswagen operates with a very small profit margin, so a priori it could not carry out a similar movement with the ID.3. The picture is very different in China; the Asian ID.3, which is produced jointly with SAIC (MG’s parent company), has recently benefited from a substantial discount.
Although its recent restyling has managed to solve some of the weak points of the original model (see the perceived quality of the cabin, which has gained several points after the update), at the moment it does not seem that these improvements have translated into greater interest on the part of the public.
The company is currently involved in the development of the ID.2, a utility vehicle located one step below the ID.3 that will combine a more typical Volkswagen design with more aggressive prices (from 25,000 euros before aid). Its production will take place in Martorell (Barcelona), where it will share a line with the CUPRA Raval.
