Jonathan Gitlin
After what feels like many years of teasing, Volkswagen’s retro-groovy ID Buzz has finally gone into production in Hannover, Germany. US market sales of the electric minivan are still two years away, but it has gone on sale in Europe, and demand has been so strong that VW is doubling production. “And this is without any of the customers seeing, touching, or even being able to drive the vehicle,” VW Commercial Vehicles Chairman Carsten Intra told Automobilwoche.
Built using VW’s new modular EV platform, the ID Buzz has launched in Europe with the shorter wheelbase variant, either as a two-row passenger vehicle or a commercial version that ditches windows and seats for pure cargo capacity. VW Commercial Vehicles says it has received roughly 12,500 preorders from European customers for the ID Buzz, and nearly half of those are for that commercial van.
VW dealers in Europe are about to receive their first demonstration models, and Intra told Automobilwoche that by the end of the year Hannover should have doubled production from 100 Buzzes a day to 200. 2023 is when things get serious, with a plan to produce 100,000 electric vans a year, increasing eventually to 130,000.
It’s even possible that strong North American demand after the Buzz goes on sale here in 2024 could see the EV van being added to VW’s production line in Chattanooga, or perhaps another site. “Then we’ll have to see how high the demand is there and whether we can increase the capacity again,” Intra said.
