Volkswagen’s ID Buzz has been a long time coming. From the first showing of the original ID Buzz concept to its predicted on-sale date, it’s been seven long years. Now with the ID Buzz’s summer 2024 on-sale date getting close, VW’s CEO spoke briefly about how sales will play out.
Speaking to Motor Trend at the Chicago Auto Show, VW president and CEO Pablo Di Si said how the company is anticipating demand for the ID Buzz to be high. And because that demand might be more than dealer supplies of the ID Buzz, VW won’t be accepting reservations for it. Di Si explained that reservations have been trouble in the past, so they’re still figuring out just how dealer allocations are going to go.
“Demand will be significantly higher than supply so I don’t want to upset any customers,” Di Si says, but reservations have only caused problems in the past and will not be used for the sale of the ID Buzz. Every U.S. dealer will be able to sell the ID Buzz, but the formula for allocation is still being worked out. The ongoing discussion is determining if allocation should be a percentage of electric vehicle sales, or total sales, or based on market share, or customer service.
Di Si also addressed markups…by not really addressing them. Motor Trend mentioned that Di Si said he’s concerned about price gouging at dealers, but didn’t say whether or not anything will be done to prevent it from happening.
The CEO said it is a topic that has already been raised with dealers; the importance of not jacking prices higher than the recommended sticker price for the three-row version that will be sold in North America.
So essentially, get ready for VW to heavily frown upon the inevitable dealer markups.
As for VW’s other plans, get ready for a slew of EVs to hit the market. VW is planning to unleash 25 new EVs in North America by 2030; the ID Buzz is the first of these models. It’ll go on sale in June with a rumored starting price of at or just above $60,000.