Strong performance of the all-electric Volkswagen ID.3 after its first year in the European market: “The car is an absolute hit. It appeals to customers and has shot from zero to take top positions among new registrations in a large number of countries,” says Klaus Zellmer, Board Member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales at Volkswagen. By the end of September, the car had already been ordered around 144,000 times in Europe – 50 percent of buyers had not driven a Volkswagen before and were new to the brand, found a study commissioned by the company. “The ID.3 has tapped into an above-average number of new buyer groups for Volkswagen. Some 70,000 new customers are strong proof that we are exactly on the right track with this vehicle and our electric mobility strategy,” continues Zellmer.

For comparison: On average, the ratio of new customers for other Volkswagen models is around 36 percent. In the first half of 2021, the strong demand for the ID.3 and other ID. models made Volkswagen the market leader for battery-electric vehicles in Europe within a very short time. In August, the car was the most popular electric car in many markets including Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland. Based on new registrations, the ID.3 also ranked top in Western Europe overall in August. In order to meet the strong demand, some 1,200 of the best-selling electric cars are leaving the production lines in Zwickau and Dresden every day, with Zwickau operating three shifts on both production lines. Moreover, production for the local market has started in Anting in China – the car will be launched on the Chinese market in the fall of this year.

Volkswagen recently surveyed its ID.3 customers in Germany about the reasons for their purchase and their user behavior. The main criteria for buying or leasing an ID.3 were environmental performance (60 percent) and innovative technology (51 percent). Another important criterion for customers was the personal support provided by Volkswagen’s dealer and service network.

For almost 80 percent of German customers, the ID.3 is the most frequently used vehicle in their household. “This underscores that the vehicle is highly suitable for daily use,” comments Silke Bagschik, Head of Sales and Marketing, Product Line e-Mobility. For most users, charging their vehicles at home is already fully carbon-neutral. Around 70 percent of them use only green electricity, either from their own photovoltaic system or from their electricity supplier – and increasingly from the new Volkswagen Naturstrom Connect. Given the fact that ID.3 production in Zwickau and Dresden is also net carbon-neutral, “we’ve come a very big step closer to achieving our goal of net carbon-neutral mobility,” according to Silke Bagschik. The ID. family therefore makes an important contribution to the success of the Way to Zero. At the heart of the Way to Zero is the brand’s new ACCELERATE strategy aimed at stepping up the pace of the electric offensive. The goal is the full electrification of the new vehicle fleet. By 2030, at least 70 percent of all Volkswagen’s unit sales in Europe will be all-electric vehicles – that’s substantially more than one million vehicles. In North America and China, the share of electric vehicles in sales should be at least 50 percent. In addition, Volkswagen will be launching at least one new electric car each year.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Happy Birthday, ID. First Movers Club! Volkswagen has prepared a surprise for all ID. customers to mark the first birthday of its Facebook group: the ID. First Movers Club has opened up, just in time for the IAA MOBILITY in Munich. The group was previously reserved for early adopters of the ID.3 1st but will now be known as the ID. Drivers Club and all European ID. customers will be able to join up. What began in September 2020 as a digital meeting place for enthusiastic electromobility pioneers has developed into an active ID. community that is in a position to benefit from new momentum and additional experience.

The aim of opening up the Facebook group is for Volkswagen to instantly increase the opportunities on offer for ID. customers to receive background information, ask experts for assistance and chat with other ID. customers from all over Europe. “Our First Movers Club is a fantastic platform that allows people to chat about the joy of driving electric vehicles, share their stories, tips and tricks and learn from one another. A real community. And we are expanding it,” says Klaus Zellmer, Volkswagen board member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales. “More and more people are on the road with our ID. and our electro offensive is going full speed ahead around the world.” Silke Bagschik, Head of Sales and Marketing for the ID. Family and CMO for ID. Digital, adds: “Interaction with our community is extremely important to us and we always strive to give our customers something in return – such as expert advice from our specialists or on-site events that we organise for our ID. community.”

Last year, early-bird buyers of the Volkswagen ID.3 1st had the opportunity to participate in the ID. First Movers Club. Since then, these kindred spirits have been meeting up in their Facebook group, swapping stories and discussing the future of mobility. Volkswagen also initiated five optimisation surveys to provide the community with the chance to participate actively in further development of products and services. The high level of involvement and the great feedback received from the community by Volkswagen have ensured that this tool will be retained in the future.

The First Movers are also right at the front of the queue for new updates. For example, the First Movers were the first customers to have the option of loading the initial Over-the-Air Update for their car. The update will soon also be provided for all other ID. customers. Volkswagen had recently founded ID. Digital as a new, agile project unit. This coordinates preparation and provision of the updates and is oriented towards direct customer feedback.

By the time it opened, membership of the ID. First Movers Club had risen to around 3,400. Around 2,000 of these are “Daily Active Users”, i.e. users who actively participate in the forum on a daily basis. Since the community started in September 2020, more than 6,700 messages and 95,000 comments have been posted, and over 7,000 direct messages have been sent. “In the first twelve months, the immense amount of knowledge and the motivated reactions of community members made a significant contribution to the improvement of our products,” says Bagschik.

First ID. Meet to take place in Switzerland

This process is not just a digital event: it was in the ID. First Movers Club that the idea of an ID. Meet was first mentioned, the first real-life meeting for ID. enthusiasts. From 8th to 12th September, ID. drivers will meet up in Ticino to share their experiences. “The idea emerged in September 2020, after I had ordered my ID.3 1st,” says Daniel Ott, founder of the ID. Meet. “I was browsing in the ID. forums and the social media groups for the ID. Family and it seemed to me that there was a need for a community to meet in real life and talk about the ID. Vehicles.” Volkswagen is supporting the ID. Meet by supplying specialists and experts for presentations, as well as numerous vehicles. These include an ID.3 X (Performance) and the ID.3 Showcar from the trainee project in Zwickau.

Ott views the ID. Drivers Club as a valuable tool for helping people to identify with the Volkswagen brand. “The ID. Meet would not have been possible without this community. And it is of fundamental importance for people to meet up for real. That’s how they really do get to grips with a topic in a proactive manner,” says the Swiss ID. fan. “I consider the climate crisis to be the greatest threat facing humanity and electromobility must contribute to counteracting this.”

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

The new Golf R Estate is Volkswagen’s most powerful and dynamic Golf Estate so far. Sportiness meets everyday practicality. Top performance meets flexibility, with a spacious interior. The 235-kW (320-PS) Golf R Estate remains true to the tradition of its predecessors: a flexible all-rounder, comfortable leisure and family estate, and a sporty companion with impressive dynamics – thanks in part to the 4MOTION all-wheel drive system, including R Performance torque vectoring with wheel-selective torque control on the rear axle.

Breath-taking agility and optimum everyday practicality – that is what the new Golf R Estate offers. The sport estate features impressive performance, thanks to the 4MOTION all-wheel drive and R Performance torque vectoring. The Golf R Estate also sets visual benchmarks with its sporty interior and exterior design. The Golf R Estate is the perfect combination of the compact Golf R and a spacious estate. Sportiness, performance and emotions meet space, flexibility and top quality.

Driving dynamics in a new dimension

Like the compact Golf R, the Golf R Estate also comes with the newly-developed 4MOTION all-wheel drive system, including R Performance torque vectoring with wheel-selective torque control on the rear axle. This not only distributes the power between the front and rear axle as needed, via a new rear-axle differential, but also between each rear wheel. The innovative drive system significantly increases the agility of the new Golf R Estate, particularly in corners. At the same time, it also increases safety, as more power is guided to the outer wheel at the rear of the car when cornering. This provides the car with a high level of traction, whilst maintaining neutral handling characteristics.

The 4MOTION all-wheel drive system is linked through the Vehicle Dynamics Manager to other chassis systems, like the electronic differential lock (XDS) and optional Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC), which allows various configurations. The result: an extremely precise and neutral driving experience, optimal traction, and outstanding agility. In short: maximum driving pleasure. The final fine-tuning of the new Golf R Estate took place on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

With the optional R-Performance package, the high-performance estate has two additional driving profiles: in the “Special” mode, all the key drive parameters are designed for the Nordschleife and other similarly demanding racetracks. The “Drift” driving mode offers new driving dynamics away from public roads and considerably increases fun and safety levels when drifting sideways.

The Golf R Estate is powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine from the EA888 series. Now in its fourth generation, this engine generates 235 kW (320 PS) and allows the car to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 4.9 seconds. The standard top speed of 250 km/h can be increased to 270 km/h with the optional R-Performance package.

A true performer, even in day-to-day use

Even with the R-specific sport chassis and sporty design, the Golf R Estate by no means comes up short when it comes to everyday practicality. For example, the “Comfort” mode – one of four standard driving profiles – is designed for optimal comfort, achieved using the engine, transmission, damper and steering parameters, as well as R Performance torque vectoring.

The dynamic estate car also boasts a generous amount of space. The long wheelbase of the Golf R Estate – 50 mm longer than the Golf hatchback – allows a particularly spacious interior. Passengers in the rear of the car, in particular, benefit from the larger dimensions. The maximum boot capacity, when loaded to roof level and with the rear seats folded down, is a mighty 1,642 litres. The optional, electrically-retractable trailer hitch rounds off the Golf R Estate as a high-performance estate car for everyday use.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com

Volkswagen is taking the next big step towards becoming a software-oriented mobility provider with its ACCELERATE strategy. Effective immediately, all ID. models will receive regular software updates via mobile data transfer. The updates had previously only been available as part of a test phase for customers who had registered with the “ID. First Movers Club”. The “ID. Software 2.3” offers new functions and optimises existing ones. Networking the entire ID. fleet will allow Volkswagen to lay the foundation for new, customer-oriented business models. Thus far, Volkswagen remains the only high-volume manufacturer to provide this technology for its customers.

“Full availability of our Over-the-Air Updates underlines the innovative capacity of Volkswagen and forms the basis for a completely new, digital customer experience,” says Volkswagen CEO Ralf Brandstätter. “At the same time, we are laying the foundation for new digital business models and hitting a key milestone in our ACCELERATE strategy.”

Over-the-Air Updates as the basis for new business models and additional revenue

In future, the company plans to provide its customers with free software around every twelve weeks to keep the vehicles up to date and improve the customer experience. Volkswagen is also aiming to generate increased revenue during the usage phase with new, data-based business models – for services and functions that the customer can now order as required, whenever these are needed. For example, this could be Travel Assist or improved battery performance for long journeys, or even automated driving at a later point in time. Volkswagen sees the potential to generate hundreds of millions in additional revenue over the next few years.

Focus on the customer

The Over-the-Air Updates are being developed in close collaboration with CARIAD, the Volkswagen Group's software company. “The new updates are a central functionality of the digital, connected car. They will quickly become normal for our customers, in the same way as they have for their smartphones,” says Thomas Ulbrich, Member of the Board of Management for Technical Development. “Software development is iterative and fast. We work in short cycles, like a tech company, and provide updates to our customers at correspondingly short intervals.”

Volkswagen also wants to stay in touch with its customers after selling or leasing the car, to provide digital services. “Vehicles that always have the latest software on board can provide an excellent digital customer experience and are therefore of the utmost importance for our future success,” adds Ulbrich. “Thanks to regular updates, the car will not just remain up-to-date – it will become even better.”

Update optimises functions for security and comfort

Some of the new functions affect the ID. Light, a light strip at the bottom of the windscreen. It now gives the driver information that can provide intuitive support for energy-saving driving, and when driving with the automatic distance control system “Active Cruise Control” (ACC). Image processing has also been improved for the multifunction camera, allowing it to recognise motorcycles and other road users even more swiftly. The same applies when driving in the dark. If installed, dynamic main beam control allows even more precise headlight regulation. The graphics on the central infotainment display become calmer and clearer, with more intuitive operation – showing how Volkswagen reacts to feedback from the first ID. customers.

The digital customer experience is becoming a focal point for all development steps for products and services across the entire vehicle lifecycle. As part of the ACCELERATE strategy, Over-the-Air Updates lay the foundation for new business models and customer-centric product optimisation.

Article source: www.volkswagen-newsroom.com