Volkswagen Australia has left the door open to introducing smaller and more affordable electric vehicles locally, although the brand says infrastructure and customer readiness remain major considerations for if they are introduced locally. The news comes as the brand recently revealed the new ID.Polo and ID.Polo GTI models, both of which are yet to be confirmed for local sales.
During an interview with WhichCar by Wheels about the company’s future EV strategy at the local launch of the plug-in hybrid variants in the Tiguan and Tayron ranges, local Volkswagen executives said that decision on introducing smaller variants would be made as the market develops.
“Strategically, in the future we need to be able to cover as many segments as possible,” said Volkswagen Australia Director of Passenger Vehicles PierGiorgio Minto. “If there is an opportunity and it makes sense from a brand perspective, why not? Our market research suggests that something like that isn’t necessary right now, but in the future, most likely.”
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The comments come as the brand recently revealed its fully electric ID.Polo hatchback. Just prior to that model’s reveal was the unveiling of the heavily upgraded version of the ID.3 hatchback, now called ID.3 Neo, while the production version of the ID.Cross small electric SUV – which will likely replace the current petrol-powered T-Cross – is due to be revealed soon.
The brand says that part of the pause for its smaller EVs to be introduced is that because their owners are more likely to live in apartment buildings with no charging facility, smaller EVs tend to rely more heavily on public infrastructure which needs to be further improved locally.
“There’s an infrastructure component to introducing smaller EVs too. If you’re getting a small electric vehicle, our research suggests that you’re more likely to be living somewhere like an apartment block without power in your garage or maybe no garage at all, so your infrastructure needs to be really strong and that takes a bigger component of decision making for us” said Minto.
Minto pointed to markets such as Norway, where EV adoption has surged thanks to decades of government support, incentives and infrastructure investment. Norway’s transition to electric vehicles was not immediate, with the first incentive for EV ownership launched way back in 1990, well before they were mainstream.
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“Certainly having an electric Golf or Polo in Norway is going to be very different to what that will be in Australia for our customers, so we have to weigh that up. We can’t blindly say let’s bring it here without the infrastructure to effectively charge it.
“But they’re having subsidised EV sales and that’s why they’ve gotten to 98 per cent EV market share. If the government takes a different route here as well, it might open potential doors but for now, we’re continuing to monitor the market.”
Locally, the company says that it’s focused on helping customers move into electrified vehicles through partnerships and ownership programs, rather than waiting for policy intervention. One such program is Volkswagen Australia’s partnership with Ampol to provide discounted EV charging for the first 12 months of ownership, as well as installing an Ampol charger at each of Volkswagen’s 100+ Australian dealerships for ID customers to use.
Volkswagen’s latest electrified products, the plug-in hybrid variants of the Volkswagen Tiguan and Tayron, are now on sale with pricing starting at $62,390 plus on-road costs.
