Volkswagen threatens ID false start in China

Volkswagen is making slow progress in selling the electric cars in its new ID family in China. In May, only 1,213 vehicles of the two ID.4 SUV models were sold two months after the start of sales. According to data from the consulting firm LMC, that was around 200 fewer than in April. This meant that sales remained far below what VW had hoped for, as several people familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency. Volkswagen also performed worse than some of its competitors, whose e-cars were in high demand at the start of sales in the world's largest car market. Insiders attributed the unpromising debut to a lack of technical functions, tough competition, the comparatively late start and problems with a new sales network for e-cars in China. "The sales have so far fallen short of our expectations. We had to repeatedly reduce the production plans for the ID.4," says one of the insiders. "It's not healthy, but customers aren't coming to buy them right now." Volkswagen countered that sales in China were in line with expectations. Production and a new sales network for e-cars are still being set up. A spokeswoman said that 1,500 vehicles of the two models ID.4 X and ID.Crozz were sold in May, around 200 more than in April. She explained the difference to the figures from LMC with differences in the collection of data. The automaker was confident that sales would increase in the coming months and pointed to plans to launch three more ID models in China. A comparison with the Model Y from US electrical pioneer Tesla is not possible because it is a different vehicle segment. The US rival delivered 6612 Model Ys in the first two months after this type was launched in China. Sales of the ID.4 in China are in stark contrast to Europe, where, according to data from JATO Dynamics, the car was the best-selling electric car with around 12,100 vehicles sold in the first two months after its market launch.