What would the numbers be if Volkswagen sold these cars in Malaysia?
Volkswagen has announced that the brand is well on track to the electrification of its fleet and has delivered 500,000 ID electric vehicles (EVs) globally a year ahead of their projected schedule. This milestone achievement is astonishing but imagine how much higher those numbers would have been if Malaysians could buy these cars too.
While it is very impressive that Volkswagen managed to deliver 500,000 ID EVs globally despite supply chain issues, there are still a few markets across the globe, including Malaysia, where the German brand does not sell any of their ID cars. In fact, the best Malaysians can do right now is to just “register our interest.” on the website.
Imelda Labbe, Board Member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales at Volkswagen, said “Delivery of half a million ID.s confirms that the Volkswagen models are being well-received by our customers – all over the world. We are on the right track with our electric mobility campaign and our success story continues.”
“Our focus is unchanged – we want to make Volkswagen the most desirable brand for sustainable mobility. The order bank at Volkswagen remains high. We are doing our utmost to deliver the roughly 135,000 ID.s on order to our customers as quickly as possible.” She added.
Moreover, this milestone achievement has given Volkswagen a huge boost in morale and the company is confident it will continue to stay on track to achieving all its goals including only producing EVs in Europe by 2033 and launching ten new electric models by the year 2026.
Now I am very happy that Volkswagen has achieved this but at the same time, I can’t help but feel a bit left out. Maybe it is the Malaysian in me that wants every cool new toy as soon as I see it but the tax structure in Malaysia is highly favourable for EVs and some of my friends also share this sentiment.
Additionally, Volkswagen as a brand has a rather large presence in the country too, even one of my uncles drives a Volkswagen so why won’t the brand just sell at least one or two ID cars here? After all, if there were a couple of ID cars ordered here, perhaps Volkswagen may even have achieved this milestone sooner.
Now I will not sit here and pretend that there will be a new Volkswagen ID vehicle in every driveway here but it is no secret that there are many people in Malaysia who are buying EVs and I feel like Volkswagen just missed out on the opportunity to outsell imported AP Teslas and other EVs from other brands here too.
All in all, kudos to Volkswagen on this amazing achievement and I hope to see the brand continue to progress at a rapid pace but I hope the brand will consider bringing in their new ID vehicles here to Malaysia sooner rather than later.
