When we told you Volkswagen planned to produce 1 million EVs by 2022, we knew China was a big part of that plan. What we did not imagine was that the US would play such a small starting role, and so late. 2022 will be the year Volkswagen will start delivering the ID.4 in the country, something that is “on plan,” according to Tom du Plessis, VW Chattanooga’s CEO.
That is surprising considering the ID.4 will soon be put for sale in China, where the first pictures of its production version emerged a little more than a month ago. Ironically, the ID.4 may be sold there before Tesla manages to start producing the Model Y.
According to Transport Topics, Volkswagen is now hiring personnel and shipping equipment to produce the ID.4 in Chattanooga. While the COVID-19 pandemic stopped production of other cars there, it did not prevent the construction of the new building and more extensive body shop to occur. It would now be 70 percent complete.
What is weird is that pre-production will start in 2021, but the production cars will only be available in 2022. Volkswagen would plan to produce 100,000 EV units per year in the US plant. That is only 10 percent of the total of 1 million units it decided to deliver in 2022.
Knowing it is a matter of strategy, we wonder why that is the case. It makes perfect sense that the company focuses on its leading market first, but why take so long to offer its EVs in the US? Will the ID.4 come as an imported vehicle before Chattanooga is able to deliver it? Does it have to do with the fact that VW is currently the most indebted company in the world, with $192 billion in debt? Share your thoughts with us below.
Source: Transport Topics