The Volkswagen ID.3 is seeing a surge in demand following the automaker’s decision to slash prices last month. The lower ID.3 price had a significant impact this past month, with sales rising over 300%.
Volkswagen ID.3 sales in China up 300% after price cuts
In early June, Volkswagen cut prices on its small ID.3 electric car, offering a limited-time “historically low price” deal.
The German automaker’s joint venture with SAIC (SAIC-VW) slashed prices by 16%, resulting in a new starting price of around 119,900 yuan ($16.6K) from 142,900 yuan ($19.8K).
The price cuts are already having a drastic impact on VW’s sales in the region. According to CarNewsChina, Volkswagen ID.3 sales climbed to 7,378 units in July, a whopping 305% increase from the 1,819 units sold in June.
Not only does it represent massive growth month-over-month, but it’s also the first time the ID.3 has crossed 5,000 in monthly sales since launching in 2021.
The price cuts came after Volkswagen lost ground in the Chinese market it once dominated. EV makers in the region, such as BYD, Tesla, NIO, and others, continue seeing higher demand.
At VW’s general meeting in May, shareholders were quick to bring up the automaker’s lagging EV sales in China, the company’s largest market.
BYD surpassed VW in the first three months of the year in passenger sales, extending its lead through June.
SAIC-VW offers two versions of the ID.3, the base version starting at 119,900 yuan ($16.6K) and a higher-end trim for 149,900 yuan ($20.8K). The ID.3 is powered by a single rear electric motor with 170 hp (125 kW) and 310 Nm peak torque. With a 57.3 kWh battery pack, the ID.3 has a 450 km (280 miles) CLTC range.
Volkswagen’s EV lineup in China consists primarily of the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.6 electric models. The automaker’s other EVs in the region did not experience the same surge in sales, with 4,031 ID.4 and 1,513 ID.6 models sold last month.
City Dwellers’s Take
After seeing the surge in ID.3 sales following the recent price cuts, will VW do the same with its other models in the region? Or, more importantly, can they afford to?
The automaker faces stiff competition, with models like the BYD Dolphin and Yuan Plus EVs dominating the Chinese market. The BYD Dolphin starts at 116,800 yuan ($16.2K), while the Yuan Plus is going for 134,000 yuan ($18.6K)
Despite the higher ID.3 sales, the model was still far behind the Dolphin (21,800) and Yuan Plus (23,594) in July.
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