What do you want for Christmas? Volkswagen hopes that it is a new ID.4 – World Car of the Year.

Volkswagen’s  award-winning 2021 World Car of the Year, the Volkswagen ID.4 electric SUV, has hit Aussie shores. A “register-your-interest waitlist” will be going live before Christmas, possibly proving to be a very tempting stocking filler for customers.

The two ID.4 electric SUVs that have arrived are in overseas-market spec and punch out 150kW and 522km of range for the ID.4 Pro Performance and 125kW and 345km of range for the cheaper ID.4 Pure Performance with 345km range.

It is the latter that will appeal to fleet and government buyers while the top spec Pro Performance will make up most private sales. 

Hot on the heels of Volvo’s announcement that their entire fleet will be electric only, Brand Director of Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles Michal Szaniecki said “the clear target is to have the ID.4, along with the ID.5, in Australian driveways by late 2023.”

“Strategically the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 represent the most sizeable opportunity for Volkswagen Australia in countless years,” he said.

Volkswagen Oz predicts that pricing for the ID.4 will be similar to the hugely popular Tiguan 162TSI R-Line. The ID.5 ‘coupe’ will be priced close to a Tiguan R. 

“The ID.4 will bring electric performance to a broad customer base with target pricing similar to our most in-demand SUV, the Tiguan 162TSI R-Line. Arriving at the same time will be the coupe-style ID.5 with pricing similar to a Tiguan R, enabling customers to alternatively pick an even more design-focused BEV.”

Families will love that clever packaging means that rear seat space more closely resembles that of the larger Touareg SUV than the Tiguan. 

In a beautiful nod to the past, the Volkswagen ID.4 is rear-wheel drive AND rear engined although I imagine this is where the similarities between the trusty Beetle and the ID.4 end. The performance is certainly nothing like a Beetle, with 0-100km/h performance of between 8.5 seconds (Pro Performance) and 9.0sec (Pure Performance).