Volkswagen postpones indefinitely the launch of the ID.7 saloon in North America

Volkswagen has decided to indefinitely postpone the marketing of its electric saloon ID.7 in the United States and Canada. A decision that the company’s North American division justifies by the current changing conditions of the electric vehicle market, while leaving open the possibility of putting this model on sale in North America at a later date.

According to a company spokesperson, “Volkswagen is fully committed to making decisions based on the current market situation, while also meeting the demands of its customers“. What, in our view, seems like a polite way of avoiding a direct answer as to how long the launch of the company’s flagship in this market will be delayed. Let us recall that Volkswagen’s initial intention was for the ID.7 to hit North American roads in the third quarter of the year we are currently in.

All ID.7 units destined for the European market are produced at the German Emden plant, while the China version is handled by FAW and SAIC at their Foshan and Anting plants in that Asian country. Likewise, production of the ID.7 for the North American market was expected to start at the American plant in Chattanooga, or in neighbouring Mexico. That has not happened. For this reason, had sales of this model begun in North America during the third quarter of the year, as planned, the units offered for sale would probably have been imported from Germany, as already happened with the ID.4 SUV at the time.

What could have been but was not

The German manufacturer planned to offer two variants of the ID.7 in North America, just as in Europe: saloon and estate (Tourer). Each of them would be available with either rear-wheel or all-wheel drive. Volkswagen had not yet revealed, however, neither the price list nor the EPA range of each of these versions.

It is also important to point out that the technical specifications of the North American ID.7 would not be exactly the same as those of the European model. In North America, the ID.7 versions with the 82 kWh battery pack would be named Pro S and Pro S Plus. In Europe, however, the ID.7 Pro does have an 82 kWh battery pack, but the ID.7 Pro S has a capacity of 91 kWh. However, the latter is not yet on sale.

On the other hand, the North American model, like the European one, was going to use the new APP550 electric motor from Volkswagen, although with a slight difference in the power output. Thus, in the case of the rear-wheel-drive version destined for the North American market, the power was going to be 208 kW, compared with 246 kW for the all-wheel-drive version. In Europe, by contrast, the power of these two versions is 210 and 250 kW, respectively. A minimal difference, but a real one.

Finally, it should be noted that Volkswagen has wanted to make it very clear that the decision to postpone the launch of the ID.7 in the North American market does not in any way mean that the company has hit the brakes on its transition to electric mobility. In this regard, the statement published by the company reads as follows:

“We remain committed to electric mobility. As proof of this, this year we have improved the range and performance of our fully electric ID.4 2024 SUV. We are also very excited to welcome the iconic ID. Buzz 2025 minibus, which will arrive in this market in the last quarter of this same year.”

Technical specifications of this car

HatchbackVolkswagen ID.76 versions · from 43,950 €