VW Delays Its Latest ID.7 Electric Vehicle After Listening to Customers - Here’s Our Take

In a press release today, Volkswagen of America, Inc. stated that the company is “...committed to making market-driven choices while listening to our customers.” In addition, the company says that “...because market dynamics continue to change,” the company has opted not to introduce the ID.7 battery-electric sedan in America as planned. This news comes just six weeks after Volkswagen issued details on the trims and feature packages the ID.7 would be offered with in America. 

The Audi Conflict
The ID.7 was an upscale sedan VW said would have many luxury amenities, such as massage seats, an augmented reality head-up display, a 0.7kW harman/kardon sound system boasting 14 speakers, and a large 15-inch tablet-like screen. The ID.7 was also supposed to have a panoramic glass roof with electrochromic dimming (similar to that found in Toyota’s Venza). To our ears, the ID.7 sounded a lot like an Audi product. Did Audi's managers request that VW not intrude on its premium electric vehicle space? "We let you have 500 Arteons a quarter; don't push your luck." You be the judge. 

Americans Are Starting To Rethink EVs
The translation of these Volkswagen statements on why the ID.7 has been shelved could be read as “Americans have soured on both EVs and expensive sedans, so we will direct our inventory to markets that value them.” To add some weight to our interpretation of VW’s delay, we will also tell our readers that VW listed a lot of great statements about how swimmingly well the ID.7 is doing in European markets, particularly in Germany. Imagine. A Volkswagen selling well in Germany. Who’d a thunk it?

VW's EVs Are Declining in Popularity At a Scary Pace
We were wondering how the ID.7 launch might go after finding that VW dealers near us still had a new 2022 model year ID.4 shown in stock at a Boston area dealership, along with a lot of leftover 2023s. Adding a newer electric vehicle to the lot would not help those gathering dust sell faster. The ID.4 is a five-door crossover, the ID.7 a sedan, but both will appeal to an EV shopper who happens to find a VW dealer. Why create internal competition when sales are already in steep decline?

The last sales report that Volkswagen issued was after the end of Q1 2024. At that time, VW’s electric vehicle deliveries had dropped by a staggering 37% year over year in America. This, despite VW’s total sales being up by double digits. Overall, EVs account for about 7.5% of VW’s total new vehicle sales as of April. That is almost exactly the same percentage of EVs sold as in the US market overall. 

Nobody Wants To Go Head To Head With Tesla's Model 3

One reason we can completely understand behind slow-rolling or killing the ID.7 in America is the comparison to the newly updated Tesla Model 3. If you are a sedan shopper and want a great electric vehicle, the answer is Model 3. Why draw a direct comparison to that model when nobody is asking for one?

Buzz Kill
VW also mentioned the ID.Buzz, which is an electrified interpretation of the iconic Microbus from bygone times. We didn’t see any firm stats on when it would be released for sale. Hopefully, VW’s customers are saying that they want to buy a lot of them, or it too may be delayed. 

When Might the ID.7 Arrive - If Ever?
In a March release, VW told the press that the ID.7 was originally planned for Q3 of 2024. With its new announcement today that the vehicle has been delayed, we would not expect the ID.7 to arrive any sooner than this time next year. Watch Torque News for updates as they are announced. 

Top of page image and Q1 2004 delivery chart courtesy of Volkswagen. 

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John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work at our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ Grammarly grammar and punctuation software when proofreading.