After strong interest, VW plans to build 130,000 ID Buzz a year

Enlarge / A pair of ID Buzz bask in the Copenhagen sun. Jonathan Gitlin

After what feels like many years of teasing, Volkswagen's retro-groovy ID Buzz has finally entered production in Hannover, Germany. Sales of the electric van in the US market are still two years away, but it has gone on sale in Europe and demand has been so strong that VW is doubling production. "And that without any of the customers seeing, touching or even being able to drive the vehicle," Carsten Intra, president of VW Commercial Vehicles, told Automobilwoche.

Built using VW's new modular EV platform, the ID Buzz was launched in Europe with the shorter-wheelbase variant, either as a two-row passenger vehicle or as a commercial that ditches windows and seats for pure cargo capacity. VW Commercial Vehicles claims to have received approximately 12,500 pre-orders from European customers for the ID Buzz, of which almost half are for this commercial van.

VW dealerships in Europe are about to receive their first demo models, and Intra told Automobilwoche that by the end of the year, Hannover should have doubled production from 100 Buzz per day to 200. 2023 is when things get serious, with a plan to produce 100,000 electric vans per year, eventually reaching 130,000.

It's even possible that strong North American demand after the Buzz goes on sale here in 2024 could see the electric van added to VW's production line in Chattanooga, or possibly another location . “Then we will have to see how high the demand is and if we can increase capacity again,” Intra said.