2025 Volkswagen ID.4 price may be much cheaper than expected in Australia
09/27/2024 01:10 AM
VW’s new electric SUV could be within a few thousand dollars of the $55,900 Tesla Model Y – not the circa-$75,000 RRP previously predicted – after negotiations with head office in Germany.
Volkswagen Australia is in final negotiations with head office on the price of its long-delayed first electric SUV, the 2025 Volkswagen ID.4.
And the cheapest ID.4 could be much more affordable than the circa-$75,000 plus on-road costs RRP originally forecast, following drastic price reductions by Tesla and its electric-car rivals.
It remains to be seen how close it can get to the price of the most popular version of Australia’s top-selling electric car, the $55,900 plus on-road costs Tesla Model Y RWD.
Prices for Volkswagen’s first electric car in Australia are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, ahead of first showroom arrivals in December – about six months later than forecast this time last year.
MORE: Electric cars Australia: Cheapest, best and newest electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids
Volkswagen Australia executives told Drive the company is hoping to repeat the positive reaction to prices of the modern revival of the Kombi, the electric ID. Buzz, with the ID.4.
After it was long predicted the ID. Buzz would be a six-figure vehicle, Volkswagen last month announced three of the four model grades would be priced below the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) threshold of $91,387, which opens up lucrative tax benefits for novated leasing customers.
“We took the right time to price the ID. Buzz under the [LCT] threshold … everybody was really somehow excited about the price. A pleasant surprise,” Volkswagen Group Australia managing director Karsten Seifert told Drive.
MORE: 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz price and specs – Electric Kombi due in December
“And for the ID.4, we will find the right price point. Whatever the number is, it will fit to what we really think the customer deserves.
“Let’s see. We need two, three more weeks probably, and then we’re ready to go.”
Drive reported earlier this year the ID.4 – arriving first in a single, long-range, rear-wheel-drive variant – could start from about $76,000 to $77,000 plus on-road costs, which at that time was slightly cheaper than a Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD ($78,400).
Since then, the Tesla Model Y Long Range has been cut to $69,900 plus on-roads, and the base variant – which accounts for the vast majority of Model Y sales – is now $55,900.
A starting price in the low-$60,000 range – or even less – would make the ID.4 the Model Y-sized electric SUV not built in China with the closest RRP to that of its nearest rival.
A competitive price for the ID.4 will become increasingly important as Australia closes in on the introduction of CO2 emissions targets for new vehicles, which come into effect next year.
Under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), car makers will need low- or zero-emissions vehicles to offset sales of high-emissions models and avoid paying government penalties.
Seifert said it took “some months” to finalise ID. Buzz prices, and that government emissions rules can help local divisions of car makers in their pricing discussions with head office.
“In Europe we have some CO2 regulations. The teams, within the whole journey from sales, finance [etc] is aware that these regulations need to have, let’s say, a certain positioning [on vehicle prices],” Seifert said.
“And I would say the experience we got from Europe in the last [few] years, that benefits in making [on the] third, fourth, fifth time, a decision for different countries. The team here is well prepared, and I think it’s a good cooperation to really meet the right pricing.”
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