Is U.S. buzz over Volkswagen ID Buzz sufficient to get it made right here? VW’s Scott Keogh now says perhaps

Keogh spoke of driving European-spec ID Buzz fashions in Austin this month, the place he was joined by Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen Group, and the 2 executives have been in a position to see native response firsthand. Ralf Brandstaetter, CEO of VW passenger automobiles, said last week that the model anticipates promoting 120,000 ID Buzz fashions per 12 months.

“Automobiles like this do an important factor. Enterprise is nice, being profitable is nice, however get the model favored and cherished once more, that is the place we wish to get to, and that is what that is doing,” Keogh stated. “Being down in Austin with this car” was the spotlight thus far of his three-year stint as CEO of VW of America, he stated. “Driving round and simply getting actually folks leaping in entrance of the car; that is superior.”

Talking March 10 to sellers gathered in Las Vegas for the NADA Present, Keogh was requested about classes realized from the corporate’s launch of the ID4 final 12 months that he would carry ahead to the launch of the ID Buzz.

Before everything, he stated, “I might have pushed more durable to localize the automotive and localize the automotive sooner, for sure.” He stated then that demand for the ID4 was broader nationwide than anticipated, regardless of a scarcity of built-up charging infrastructure in lots of areas.

After his speech, Keogh clarified to Automotive Information that ID Buzz gross sales volumes within the U.S. would probably be beneath 100,000 yearly — a benchmark that traditionally has allowed automakers adequate scale to economize on manufacturing.

“Truthfully, the ID Buzz, I do not see localizing,” Keogh stated then, “however the sky is the restrict, and we’re excited.”

Monday, nonetheless, that modified barely.

Keogh stated he acquired “a four-page e-mail” from a small supplier within the U.S. who he stated may need anticipated to promote one or two ID Buzz fashions when reservations formally opened later this 12 months for the minivan, which will not arrive within the U.S. till 2024. The supplier advised Keogh that he “had 75 reservations; folks put down $500 every,” in a dealer-run advert hoc reservation for the U.S. model of the ID Buzz, which hasn’t even been proven but.

Keogh stated he was shocked.

“To be somewhat bit cynical, [a new microbus] is a automotive we have been in a single type or vogue discussing for over 20 years,” Keogh stated. However the ID Buzz combines “highly effective nostalgia” with “a wholly new method to be a cool Dad, a cool household, a cool the whole lot,” and with demand as it’s, “we’d must react accordingly,” by localizing manufacturing to make sure the model can produce sufficient for North America.