After a hesitant start, the Volkswagen Group’s EV onslaught is finally paying off. In the first half of the year, global EV sales for the entire automotive conglomerate rose 47 percent to about 465,000 units, giving the company an 11-percent share of the global market. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. According to a new report, one all-electric model is facing retirement.
Autocar alleges the ID.5 will be dropped from the lineup as early as 2027, giving the swoopy electric SUV a seven-year life cycle with no second-generation model planned. Sluggish sales are reportedly to blame, particularly in China, which VW had projected would be the main market. The model also failed to gain traction in Europe, where buyers prefer the more spacious, conventionally styled ID.4. Not launching the ID.5 in the United States further limited its potential.
Ironically, the ID.5 actually tops the VW Group’s EV sales charts for the first half of the year, but only because its numbers are combined with those of the ID.4. As expected, the regular model did most of the heavy lifting, contributing the bulk of the 84,900 units sold through June. The ID.3 followed with 60,700 units, trailed by the Audi Q4 E-Tron and Q4 E-Tron Sportback at 44,600 units.
Cutting the ID.5 raises questions about the fate of its Ford equivalent, the Capri. The Blue Oval revived the iconic nameplate on its own coupe-styled electric crossover last year, but production was soon reduced. The early cutback came in response to “rapidly deteriorating market conditions for electric vehicles,” according to a Ford spokesperson quoted by German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
The ID.5’s demise is said to be part of a broader effort to cull underperforming models. VW has already retired the Passat sedan, recently ended Arteon production, and is rumored to drop the Touareg in 2026. Its only convertible, the T-Roc Cabriolet, will bow out in 2027. Plans for a smaller ID. Buzz minivan to replace the aging Touran have also been scrapped.
Although an insider told Autocar that “the market is demanding crossovers and SUV models,” VW still has a pair of electric hatchbacks in the pipeline. The ID.2 will launch next year as a €25,000 EV, followed in 2027 by the €20,000 ID.1. Wolfsburg will also cater to crossover demand with a high-riding ID.2 X derivative.