Volkswagen has cancelled plans to build the ID.3 EV at its Wolfsburg plant in Germany, which was planned for summer 2024. The carmaker said it will continue to bundle ID.3 volume assembly at its Zwickau plant in the east of Germany “to effectively utilise the already fully installed location”, according to a spokesperson for the carmaker.
VW began production of the ID.3 electric vehicle (EV) at its Zwickau plant in Germany in 2019 following a €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) investment. The carmaker is also making a smaller volume of ID.3s at its Dresden plant in east Germany and will continue to do so.
“This decision follows a clear plan and is part of our performance programme,” said the spokesperson. “We are positioning ourselves flexibly in production. We are scrutinizing which investments are really effective for the brand and when. At the end of the day, every euro that we don’t have to spend counts.”
VW said the Wolfsburg plant gained important experience in the production of its modular electric drive matrix (MEB) vehicles last year, with the partial production of the ID.3. “This experience will continue to benefit the main plant when production of an all-electric SUV in the high-volume A-segment starts here,” said VW’s spokesperson.
Last year, the carmaker reported good sales for its battery EVs. It delivered 140.800 ID.3s to customers worldwide in 2023. However, it said there was “a general reluctance to buy battery-powered models” by consumers and orders had declined, with the overall market trend falling short of expectations. The carmaker has not confirmed that this is why it is halting production of the ID.3 at Wolfsburg.
According to VW, the Wolfsburg plant remains central to its production strategy. “For the time being, we will continue to concentrate on the production of combustion and hybrid vehicles here,” said VW’s spokesperson. “The new Tiguan and the new Golf are beacons for Volkswagen. They will be in high demand among our customers. In addition, production of the Tiguan Allspace successor Tayron will also start in Wolfsburg at the end of the year. These are all strong models that will keep the plant well utilised.”
Read our cover feature interview with Volkswagen Group Logistics’ managing director Simon Motter, who is making sure the group is ready to deliver on long-term goals for electrification, sustainability and cost.
Oliver Bronder, managing director vehicle logistics, Volkswagen Group Logistics will be discussing logistics as a competitive advantage at this month’s Automotive Logistics and Supply Chain Europe conference, which takes place between March 19-21. The event will kick off with a keynote speech from Matthias Braun, vice-president of operations logistics at VW Group’s battery division, PowerCo
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