Volkswagen delays the launch of all-electric ID.5 by a month as the parts from the Ukrainian supplier have not arrived. The supply chain disruptions are occurring as the Russia- Ukraine crisis continues. According to a German letter by news media, the part shortage is a wire harness that kept the automaker from producing enough vehicles to showcase vehicles for sales partners.
The shortage of the part, which is a wire harness, kept Volkswagen from producing enough exhibition and demonstration vehicles for its sales partners, according to a letter seen by German media outlet Automobilwoche. “In order to ensure that all partners are treated equally, the vehicles that are already in the destination stations are not yet being delivered,” according to the letter, which the site published. “In order to ensure the nationwide availability of the vehicles for every agent, we will partially redistribute the exhibition vehicles.”
Volkswagen unveiled the ID.5 in mid-September at the IAA Munich Motor Show in Germany. The ID.5 is Volkswagen’s first SUV coupé that will use the Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB), the platform the German automaker uses for its new electric cars.
Production
Production of the ID.5 began in late January. Volkswagen produces the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX at the Zwickau plant. The ID.5 is VW’s first e-SUV coupé. The automaker launched pre-sales for the ID.5 in October 2021 and the vehicle features ID. Software 3.0. The ID.5 comes in three motor options: the ID.5 Pro, the ID.5 Pro Performance, and the sporty ID.5 GTX. All the variants come with a 77 kWh battery.
The ID.5 is built at Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant, which was recently transitioned from an ICE production facility to an EV manufacturing plant as Volkswagen continues to transition to a fully-electric lineup. However, Volkswagen must wait for more wire harnesses to arrive from its suppliers in Ukraine before it can begin shipping more models to dealerships. Production was halted recently after supply bottlenecks from the war between Russia and Ukraine affected the supply chain. Volkswagen expects production to begin next week.
The issues with the shortage of wire harnesses could be resolved very soon. Earlier this week, VW’s Skoda Auto said its supplier partner in Ukraine had decided to restart the production of wire harnesses. “Our partner…in Ukraine decided to restart production of wire harnesses this week, with full service and full security for workers there,” a Skoda official said at its recent 2021 Earnings Call. Volkswagen may be using the same supplier, although this is unconfirmed.
Credits- Teslarati
