Last Updated on: 16th July 2025, 12:48 am

The Volkswagen ID. Buzz has been getting a bit of flack lately for disappointing sales in the US. This is a bit misleading, in my humble opinion.

Deliveries of the ID.Buzz started in the US at the end of 2024. Then the model ran into the uncertainty around the US EV tax credit and — perhaps even more importantly — the threat of Trump tariffs. The tariff chaos must have put a damper on the vehicle launch here just as the ID. Buzz was supposed to be benefitting from a big marketing campaign. It was just about the worst time for a new EV model to be launched in the US. Then, furthermore, the ID. Buzz was hit with a weird recall that halted Volkswagen’s exports of the model to the US (I’ll come back to that in a moment).

Now we have clarity on the EV tax credit, but there’s not much time to take delivery and get it. We still don’t have clarity on Trump’s tariffs — as his ideas on that change from week to week.

Importantly, though, the critical matter of the recall and pause in exports from Germany has just passed over. Volkswagen has just resumed shipping and deliveries of the ID. Buzz to the US. It will be a bit hard to generate this out of almost nothing, but I imagine the company will now put a sprint in trying to move as many units as it can get to the US before September 30.

The recall was, as noted, a bit of a weird one. The rear seats in the electric minivan were apparently “too wide.” They were designed for two people, but due to how wide they were, US safety regulators determined that people could seat three people there instead of two — but not safely. Volkswagen thus had to redesign that back seat for the US market. That, obviously, must have slowed down Volkswagen’s sales launch for the model in the US.

Tariffs may still be a cloud covering the US auto market as well, but it’s clear that automakers need to try hard right now to sell their EVs before they lose the $7,500 tax credit. Unfortunately, there are production and delivery limitations — not to mention marketing limitations — and only so many cars can be sold and delivered. But let’s hope for a good push by the end of the quarter.