Volkswagen’s Family Of Cheap EVs Already Looks Like A Hit

The company is struggling in China, but EV sales grew 20% in Europe last quarter.

Photo by: Volkswagen

By: Nico DeMattia

Oct 12, at 7:46pm ET

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Most buyers shop with their wallets, not their hearts. So it's no surprise to see EVs start selling better than when they begin to make more financial sense than a similar piston-powered car. The Volkswagen Group's new family of low-cost EVs is proving just that. On Monday, Volkswagen said it's received nearly 150,000 orders for its new MEB+ family of electric cars to date.

The Electric Urban Car Family includes the Cupra Raval, Volkswagen ID. Polo, Škoda Epiq, and Volkswagen ID. Cross. VW says they're boosting interest in EVs, especially in Europe where high gas prices are also playing a big role. In Q3 of 2026, Volkswagen sold 209,100 EVs on its home continent, up nearly 20% from the same period last year.

"In our home market, we are seeing a significantly accelerated trend towards all-electric vehicles," said Volkswagen executive on the Committee of Sales, Martin Sander. "The main reasons for this are the currently high fuel prices and the wider range of entry-level models. This includes our Electric Urban Car Family, for which we received nearly 150,000 orders shortly after its launch."

VW highlighted that the entry-level EVs, which cost from 25,000 to 30,000 euros, share about 80% of their components. It means VW can offer several different cars, under different brands, and in different markets without it costing a fortune. All built on the MEB+ platform, the cars share drivetrains and batteries, among other parts, VW said.

Photo by: Volkswagen

Volkswagen sold over six million cars worldwide between January and September 2026, and 678,700 of those sales were BEVs. If you look at the breakdown of VW's best-selling EVs, the cheaper models are by far the most popular. Its best-selling EV this year has so far been the Skoda Elroq, with 92,200 cars sold. The VW ID.4/ID.5 came in second place, with 81,900 sales. And the Skoda Enyaq was third, with 72,700 finding homes. The only premium car to crack the top five was the Audi Q6 e-tron, which was fifth with 50,400. In fact, only three Audis make the top 10—the Audi Q4 e-tron and A6 e-tron—with no other premium models sharing the honor.

It wasn't all rosy for VW Group last quarter. The company posted a steep 14.3% drop in sales with much of the hurt happening in China. “In a persistently challenging market environment, the Volkswagen Group kept its deliveries outside of China stable overall in the first nine months," Sander said.

While PHEV and EREV sales rose in China, BEV sales plummeted. It's a similar story for BEVs in the U.S. market, where VW has retreated.

Photo by: Skoda

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In Q3, VW only sold 18,000 BEVs in China (down 30.1%), and a measly 5,100 (down 86.4%) in the U.S. Obviously, model lineup has a lot to do with that. VW's American EV lineup is pretty sad, with the ID.4 canceled and the ID. Buzz on a long hiatus.

Things should only get better for VW's electric lineup soon, however, with the much nicer ID.Tiguan replacing the ID.4. Since the company clearly recognizes that giving customers more affordable options and more vehicle options brings more sales, hopefully we'll get some of them here in the States too.