Image: VolkswagenVolkswagen announced last week that production of the ID.4 at its US plant in Chattanooga will cease this April. As early as autumn 2025, VW had paused local production of the electric SUV after the end of the US tax credit for electric vehicles led to a collapse in demand. As the market has not recovered sustainably since, the company has now decided to discontinue production entirely.Initially, the ID.4 was exported to the US from Volkswagen’s German plants. However, in the summer of 2022, VW began local production of the electric SUV for the North American market at its Chattanooga facility—alongside the internal combustion engine SUV, the Atlas. Yet, in less than four years, the ID.4 failed to fully recoup the investments required to adapt the Tennessee plant for the MEB electric vehicle platform.Following an analyst call with Volkswagen on Tuesday evening, Stephen Reitman, an expert at the investment bank Bernstein, stated that the write-off amounts to between 60 and 75 per cent of the $800 million Volkswagen initially spent to prepare the Chattanooga plant for the vehicle. This translates to between $480 and $600 million, or approximately £400 to £510 million at the current exchange rate.This is not merely an analyst’s rough estimate: a Volkswagen spokesperson confirmed to Reuters that Bernstein’s calculations were accurate.Reitman suggested that VW would likely benefit from ‘no longer selling this unprofitable vehicle.’ In the first quarter of 2026, only 338 ID.4 units were sold in the US, representing a decline of 95.6 per cent. While production is being halted, Volkswagen will not withdraw the ID.4 from the US market entirely. The company stated last week that the 2026 model year ID.4 will remain available from existing stock, which could last until 2027, depending on customer demand.For the period thereafter, VW continues to plan for an electric mid-size SUV for the North American market, though details will be announced at a later date. Given that the ID.4 in Europe is also due for a major update and is expected to be renamed the ID. Tiguan with the switch to the MEB+ platform, it is likely that the ID.4’s successor in the US will also be a variant of the ID. Tiguan. However, it remains unclear whether it will be marketed as the ID. Tiguan or positioned differently—and whether the electric SUV will be built in the US.handelsblatt.com
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