Who has already encountered a Volkswagen ID.Buzz on the road?

What was supposed to be a real commercial and popular hit is desperately absent from circulation. Why?

In its press release outlining vehicle sales for the first 9 months of 2023, the Volkswagen group saw no need to mention a single word, or even a note, about the ID.Buzz. As if its existence had been erased. Is it a failure that must now be desperately kept silent?

However, despite criticisms from some observers disappointed with electric sales volume, VW managed to deliver 531,500 units between January and the end of September 2023, compared to 366,600 in the same period in 2022. That’s a 45% increase. Turning a historically dominant thermal market leader into a major electric player is not achieved so easily.

In Europe, sales increased by 61%, totaling 341,100 electric vehicles, compared to +74% in the United States (50,300 units)… and only +4% in China (117,100 units). Overall, electric vehicles now account for 9% of total sales mix, up from 6.8% in 2022.

The Most Sold Volkswagen Group Electric Cars in 2023:

Volkswagen ID.4/ID.5: 162,100 units
Volkswagen ID.3: 90,500 units
Audi Q4: 77,900 units
Skoda Enyaq: 54,400 units
Cupra Born: 32,300 units
Audi Q8: 21,800 units

In other words, the ID.Buzz sells less well than an Audi Q8 e-tron which starts at 88,600 euros in France.

The choice by Volkswagen to consider its legendary van as a “utility” rather than a passenger vehicle might be one explanation for its poor sales. On the commercial website, finding the ‘ID.Buzz requires going through several steps before being redirected to a second site Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles where prices are shown excluding tax. Nothing like scaring off potential customers.

OUR REVIEW OF THE ID.BUZZ IS AVAILABLE HERE

Of course, the high price doesn’t help. A single motorization offering 204 horsepower paired with a 77 kWh battery is available for 59,450 euros. The gray color is dull, and then begins the long list of options. Bicolor paint, the only worthwhile option for the ID.Buzz, costs 2,800 euros.

A bright and cheerful interior? 1,300 euros. Etc. It’s hard not to succumb to an additional charge of 10,000 euros, which pushes the ID.Buzz just below 70,000 euros. At this price, say goodbye to large families. As for the eccentric types, the offer is already crowded with very nice products. The bohemian vibe of the 1950s-1970s has definitively disappeared.