VW ID.Buzz
According to the manufacturer, 13,700 ID.Buzz are in the order books – that means long waiting times for customers.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
The waiting times for many car customers are still long – but Volkswagen now wants to deliver the first examples of its new ID.Buzz electric bus from October. The orders would be processed piece by piece, said the brand of light VW commercial vehicles (VWN) on Monday before the start of the IAA Transportation in Hanover.
The demand is high, currently there are 13,700 ID.Buzz in the order books, said Chief Sales Officer Lars Krause. So far, a good half of the customers have opted for the passenger and the other half for the cargo variant of the “E-Bullis”.
VWN boss Carsten Intra sees it as an “extremely important signal for the entire industry” that after the compulsory Corona break in 2020 there will now be a commercial vehicle IAA again. “Despite the difficult environment, we can look back on a positive development,” he said at the start of the trade fair.
Like many other sectors of the economy, the commercial vehicle industry, which is sensitive to the economy, has to deal with the consequences of the Ukraine war and the sharp increase in energy prices. Orders for heavy trucks are often still good – but there are risks that orders could be canceled if investment budgets in the transport sector come under pressure.
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So far, the incoming orders have been encouraging, was heard in the exhibition halls. How things will continue from around mid-2023 is partly uncertain.
The light VW commercial vehicles offer vans, delivery vans and pick-ups. The new edition of the Amarok flatbed truck, developed in cooperation with Ford, was also presented in Hanover, and the car is to be launched in the coming months.
Significantly improved prognosis: “The direction is right”
VWN had significantly improved its earnings in the first half of 2022 compared to the previous year, which was even more heavily burdened by the aftermath of corona and the semiconductor crisis. “We’re not quite where we want to be yet,” said one manager. “But the direction is right.” In the second half of the year, production should increase significantly.
In the case of the ID.Buzz, the interest in the van version is higher than expected, according to VWN. For example, the household appliance manufacturer Miele wants to purchase a total of around 2,700 service vehicles. The model is also of great importance for VW Group-wide because it is to gradually introduce fully autonomous driving from 2025.
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