VW ID.5 Coupe-Style EV Assembly Starts in Zwickau
Production of the VW ID.5 and ID.5 GTX has started in Germany, with the coupe-shaped model based closely on the ID.4.
The Zwickau plant has been producing most of the MEB platform electric models in Volkswagen Group's lineup, but ID.4 production will also start in Tennessee later this year.
Volkswagen has kept a number of ID models out of the US, including the ID.3, ID.5, and ID.6, but will offer the production version of the ID.Buzz here starting in 2023.
Volkswagen has started building the ID.5 and sportier ID.5 GTX electric crossovers, based closely on the ID.4 model but featuring a more coupe-like profile. Production of the ID.5 began in Zwickau, Germany, this week, where most of the MEB platform electric models are built for VW, Audi, and SEAT's Cupra brands.
The ID.5 was revealed in production form just a couple of months ago, offering a total of three powertrain options, all paired with a 77-kWh battery. The base model is a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive ID.5 Pro with 172 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque on tap, while the ID.5 Pro Performance model dials up the output to 201 hp and 229 lb-ft of torque while still offering a single motor out back. The dual-motor model in the range, as you've probably guessed by now, is the ID.5 GTX, and it offers a combined 295 hp.
Despite the popularity of this body style on crossovers of all types, VW won't offer the ID.5 or its GTX flavor stateside at all, prioritizing other regions. Following the reveal of the ID.Buzz later this spring, slated to be built in Hanover, Germany, and arrive on sale stateside in 2023, VW plans to start ID.4 production in Chattanooga, Tennessee, later this year.
"After Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden, we have now converted a second Volkswagen factory in Saxony to dedicated electric vehicle production," said Dr. Stefan Loth, chairman of the board of Volkswagen Saxony. "The start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the successful transformation of the Zwickau plant on the product side. Our focus now—depending on how the semiconductor situation pans out—will be on achieving full capacity. This year we aim to exceed the 180,000 vehicles Volkswagen Saxony built in 2021."
The decision to keep the ID.5 out of the US may seem like a curious one, given its close pairing with the ID.4, but it's worth noting that the Audi Q4 e-tron Sportback—also produced in Zwickau—is offered stateside. So Volkswagen can be thought of as still offering this general body style, albeit in a more luxurious (and pricier) wrapper.
A glass-half-empty view, on the other hand, is that the bulk of ID models that have debuted or will debut in the next five years are not headed stateside. The US won't get the ID.3, ID.5, or ID.6 models here, but it could receive the ID.8, which is expected to be an Atlas-sized crossover. Details on that model's availability have yet to be spelled out by Wolfsburg.
Should VW have offered the ID.5 stateside? Let us know in the comments below.
