ID.4 Reservations Begin Next Month for $100; Volkswagen Streamlines Shopping Experience

While North America isn’t receiving Volkswagen’s ID.3, it might have been for the best. The car launched with software glitches that made certain tech functions inoperable and probably wasn’t suited for our market, anyway, according to the manufacturer. But the ID.4 (formerly ID Crozz) crossover is coming here, and promises to deliver a pleasant electric-driving experience and a range of up to 310 miles — assuming you bought the right package and are familiar with the European WLTP cycle.

Volkswagen also wants to use the model to test its new customer experience initiative, which allows shoppers to make reservations online. While the pandemic has encouraged the industry to do more of its business over the internet, the reservation trend was becoming popular ever since carmakers learned that such fees for in-demand models could preemptively line their pockets with cash.

Originally, this was done to ensure customers were serious about buying models produced in limited supplies, or as a way to help startups fund their production efforts ahead of time. It’s now become fairly common, as everyone seems to understand the scam program. In a virtual press conference Thursday, Volkswagen said it would allow parties to reserve the ID.4 next month for a $100 deposit. Duncan Movassaghi, vice president of VW Sales and Marketing, claimed it was the best solution for dealers — and was in line with how people have to live their lives during COVID-19.

Volkswagen has also decided to streamline the virtual store, mimicking the Tesla experience rather closely. Shopping tools for the brand’s EVs will soon include range and payment estimators in conjunction with a cost-analysis feature that compares the ownership price of an EV against an internal-combustion vehicle.

From there, customers can configure the car as they see fit — with the manufacturer noting the overall options will be lessened to make the online shopping experience easier. We happen to know that it also makes the production process a lot easier (see: cheaper), too. VW suggested this was being done to make the whole affair more closely resemble buying a new smartphone, which it must think people enjoy.

Specifics on the possible configurations weren’t elaborated upon, but we’re aware that the car will come in either front or all-wheel drive (the latter of which arrives later) and consist of three trim levels and one special edition. Once those have been input, customers can officially drop $100 to book the vehicle and decide which dealership they’d like it shipped to. Customers can then track the car’s progress from production to delivery in a manner similar to tracking parcels sent via UPS or FedEx.

Here’s where things get tricky. Once the tracker notifies a customer that the model is about to sweep through the factory, they’ll have to drop another $400 to lock in their order. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem that this is a separate charge; the cumulative amount spent reserving the ID.4 will be rolled into the final purchase price. Assuming you know what that price is in advance, this should be fine. But you can’t really negotiate if you use the online-shopping method, making the initial reservation feel kind of like an extra fee, anyway. That said, Volkswagen claims customers can still stop by their dealership to start or finalize their ID.4 purchase using its dedicated portal.

The company noted that the same treatment probably won’t be offered for the next batch of ICE vehicles, adding that the situation could change. “We have some customers, obviously, that still prefer the more traditional car buying experience.” said Dustin Krause, Volkswagen of America’s director of e-mobility. “But we also see a fast growing population of customers who want to go online, find their car and purchase it with no or very little intervention.”

Did you hear that, gramps? Going in to look at a product before you purchase it and negotiating a fairer price is becoming passé. Anyone who’s hip will simply smash in their pre-order and take whatever’s served up for them to consume.

The Volkswagen ID.4 doesn’t officially debut until next month, though the manufacturer offered up some new renderings to tide over whoever is interested till then — even though we already know what it looks like. Assume those digital pre-orders open up immediately after the debut, with European deliveries taking place prior to 2021. North America isn’t supposed to see the electric crossover until 2022, however.

[Images: VW Group]