VW outlines EV plans for Australia

VOLKSWAGEN has outlined plans for its local electric vehicle roll-out this week, the German importer forecasting a range of sports, passenger, SUV and light commercial models for Australian showrooms from as early as 2024.

Speaking to media gathered to showcase the brand’s ID.Buzz and ID.Buzz Cargo electric vans in Sydney, Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles general manager of marketing and product, Ralph Beckmann, said sales of VW electric vehicles are expected to overtake those of its ICE-powered models by – or even before – 2028.

“From a global perspective, we will launch 10 new EV models by 2026,” he said.

“Our ID journey will begin in 2023, in fact it has already. At the same time 

(in 2023) both ID.4 and ID.5 will be launched offering two very compelling propositions in the SUV segment, and in the Australian market, we are making sure these are front and centre within our electric range of products.

“We will also be unveiling the ID.3 to the public in quarter one, and this model represents a very significant product upgrade, a lot of it driven by customer feedback from the initial model.

“And, for the future, there is also talk about development of another SUV, a compact SUV, and likewise a smaller sibling to the ID.3 which we have no doubt will be a very exciting addition to the ID family.”

The ID range of electric vehicles will form the core of Volkswagen’s mainstream push into electrification, with its Trinity project “jewel” to offer what Mr Beckmann says will be a significant step forward in both technology and autonomous driving capabilities from the latter half of this decade.

“Looking forward a little further into the second half of the 2020s, we’ll be going into the future from a sedan development perspective as well and looking at the Project Trinity, which will be a very significant step up in tech,” he said.

“Trinity will represent the crown jewel of VW’s technology offering as the first model with Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities.

“At the same time, we are aware that not every Australian is ready to make the jump to BEV straightaway, so our plan of attack in the electrification space is most definitely two-pronged through not only the BEV models mentions, but a comprehensive offering of PHEV products.

“As such, we’ll be introducing three exciting products which will be introduced at the next opportune model milestone (model revisions etc.), to make sure we’re meeting Australian expectations and also to bridge the technology transition between ICE and BEV vehicles.”

Mr Beckmann said the majority of PHEV models will take on familiar forms, and include the Tiguan, Golf and Touareg.

“These models can be introduced ‘on the fly’ when they line up with the next model’s lifecycle times … the strategy also considers the future proofing of our performance range.

“We’ll have continuation of Golf GTI and R marks, and adding to that, the GTE and GTX as performance halos of the ID family.”

Mr Beckmann said Volkswagen’s electrification ambitions for Australia are very clear, and the brand will be making big strides forward with the technology as the end of the decade looms.

“Our ambitions are very clear – we’re not here to dip our toe in the water. We’ve got some very clear sales ambitions … the volume aspiration for just 2024 is 6500 EVs as part of the sales mix, and by the time we roll into the 2025 to 2030 timeframe we’ll be selling 150,000 EVs throughout this period.

“What this also means is that by 2028, based on current planning, EVs will be overtaking sales of the ICE models in our portfolio, and if there are any further improvements or any advances in CO2 legislation or incentivisation to purchase EVs, this could absolutely be brought forward.”

Over the next 18 months, Volkswagen Group Australia will launch seven new vehicles locally including two BEVs and one PHEV, and beyond that, the first ID SUV and van models, including the ID.Buzz and ID.Buzz Cargo.

Importantly for Australian buyers, the future of light commercial vehicles is also set to include an electrified version of the Amarok (eAmarok) and Crafter (eCrafter) closer to the end of the decade.

Speaking to journalists gathered for Volkswagen’s EV forum in Sydney, VGA commercial vehicles national marketing manager Nathan Johnson said the opportunity for an electrified four-wheel drive dual-cab utility Down Under was not to be underestimated.

“I think the opportunity here is massive for the eAmarok, and potentially what you’ll see is that eAmarok is not as popular in other markets around the world, and by having an eAmarok here, that might actually stir the interest to comfortably make us a top-five market for eAmarok when it comes,” he said.