Volkswagen ID.3 Launch Plans In Detail

Volkswagen expects to sell all the ID.3 that it's able to build in Zwickau

2019 Volkswagen ID.3

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

May 22, 2019 at 5:57pm ET

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An interview with Juergen Stackmann, Volkswagen brand Board Member for Sales and Marketing, reveals a couple more details about the Volkswagen ID.3 market launch.

After the German manufacturer started the pre-booking of the limited edition 1ST on May 8, the company quickly received more than 15,000 paid reservations. Stackmann says that there is a big chance of pre-booking all 30,000 before actually unveiling the car (without camouflage) at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Customers will be able to place orders after the Frankfurt Motor Show at dealerships and here is another interesting thing. According to Stackmann, dealers already saw the ID.3 and placed volume orders from Volkswagen - higher than the manufacturer anticipated.

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A single version of the ID.3 will be offered initially (mid-range version and one trim) so it's a must to have a smooth ramp-up phase. On the other hand, Stackmann encourages that Volkswagen "won't wait a couple of years before bringing the entry model" - poised to cost less than €30,000 (target) in Germany.

Asked about the production capacity of 100,000 at the Zwickau plant in Germany, Stackmann said he expects to sell every car Volkswagen will be able to build.

Because the first consumer deliveries of 1ST cars will start in mid-2020, we don't even have confirmation if 100,000 could be reached in 12 months of 2020.

By launching ID.3, Volkswagen will gain some experience with over-the-air software updates, but it's not clear how much value it will bring to the table:

"How important will it be to the ID's residual value to have updateable features?

This will keep the vehicle fresh, so there will be a positive contribution. We first have to gain some experience with updateable vehicles before we can really quantify that, however, so for the moment we are being very conservative in our forecasts."

What do you think?

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Volkswagen ID.3 market launch:

Launching the pre-booking of ID.3 1ST on May 8 (30,000 units)
Presentation of the ID.3 at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2019
Sales of the pre-booked cars will start after the auto show (orders to be taken by dealers)
Production of the ID.3 1ST is to start as planned at the end of 2019
the first vehicles are to be delivered in mid-2020