VW ID.4 EV India Launch In 2023 – Golf GTI, Polo GTI, Touareg Considered

Volkswagen Touareg V8 TDI 1

Volkswagen ID.4 will be brought into the country via CBU (Completely Built-Up) route and it will be sold in limited numbers

Volkswagen is planning to retail its first electric car in the Indian market, the ID.4 next year. The crossover will be brought into the country via CBU (Completely Built-Up) route and taking advantage of the homologation relaxations for full imports, it will be sold in limited numbers. The popular model globally will have its testing commence in India later this year.

It will be evaluated for technical capabilities and keeping different weather conditions across the country in mind. The Volkswagen ID.4 will be launched after the testing gets over locally according to Ashish Gupta, Brand Director at Volkswagen India’s passenger cars division. The zero-emission crossover will be used to test the reception of EVs in the domestic market.

It will have to be waited and seen what the impact of the global semiconductor issues will have on the launch proceedings and deliveries in India. Gupta further noted that the German auto major is expected to begin the local assembly of electric vehicles in India by the middle of this decade or in 2027. It will also consider producing its own battery packs locally.

Volkswagen ID4 side profile dynamic

The electric vehicle segment in the premium end will see plenty of action in the coming years as mainstream manufacturers will look to test the waters via their global offerings. Kia recently introduced the EV6 electric crossover in India while its sibling based on the same E-GMP platform, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 will debut in the coming months as well.

Hyundai Motor Company aims to sell six battery-powered vehicles in India by 2028 with an investment of Rs. 4,000 crore. Toyota is also evaluating the Mirai fuel cell electric vehicle for India while Hyundai has an FCEV in the form of Nexo in its global portfolio too. Hyundai is also working on an India-specific volume-based electric vehicle and it will be launched in 2024.

2021 Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport front angle

So far, VW’s import strategy has worked wonders as the Tiguan Allspace and T-Roc were sold out in no time. Thus, it is considering bringing in performance-based ICE models like Polo GTI and Golf GTI while the Touareg is also in the picture.