Australian buyers waiting on Volkswagen’s rival to the Tesla Model Y will have to hold on a bit longer. The ID.4 and ID.
5 won’t arrive until the fourth quarter of 2024, rather than in the second (current) quarter of the year as planned. Orders for the pair will open in June or July – at which point pricing will be locked in, the brand confirmed today. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
Ralph Beckmann, general manager of marketing at product for Volkswagen passenger vehicles in Australia, told media the focus is on getting pricing right to avoid big price cuts after launch. “The key point is here to land for these cars on a sustainable, strong price point that we can keep in market,” Mr Beckmann said. “The last thing we want to do is launch a price point, and then two months down the track have to react and discount it significantly like we’ve seen in the industry in some cases.
“It’s really paramount for us to protect our customers that are buying this product, and their residual value for the future to make sure it’s not destroyed in price point variations.” Volkswagen confirmed it has more than 7000 registrations of interest for the ID.4 SUV, which takes on the dominant Tesla Model Y in Australia.
A number of electric cars have seen their prices slashed in Australia in the last month, no doubt factoring into Volkswagen’s calculations. Peugeot kicked off the carnage by cutting $25,000 from the price o.
