Volkswagen’s connected services finally arriving in Australia

Volkswagen is in the process of finally introducing a connected services platform to its Australian vehicles, with its commercial vehicle division getting the technology first.

The first vehicles to receive the third-party Connected Cars-operated Goconnect system are the electric ID. Buzz people mover and ID. Buzz Cargo van.

This is despite Volkswagen’s initial plans to bring connected services to Australia through the related ID.4 and ID.5 electric SUVs.

Both of these SUVs have been delayed multiple times, most recently to this month, and are now due around March 2025.

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ID. Buzz owners will receive a complimentary five-year Goconnect subscription with their vehicle, with pricing after this point yet to be finalised.

Via the Goconnect phone app, owners can view their parking position, visualise the vehicle’s most recent trips, interact and book appointments with their dealer, view important errors and warnings, see the high-voltage battery status, and see the driving speed.

Volkswagen has confirmed the Goconnect system will be rolled out across the wider commercial vehicle range, including the Amarok ute, from July 2025 onwards.

It’s worth noting this connected services system isn’t a proprietary system, but it is Volkswagen Group-approved globally.

“So there are some markets that are classified as offline markets,” said Volkswagen Group Australia director of commercial vehicles, Ryan Davies.

“Australia is currently one of those, and we don’t have a true picture of when the connectivity that’s available in Europe will make its way into Australia.”

One feature the third-party Goconnect connected services system will lack in local Volkswagen commercial vehicles is an emergency call function.

Mr Davies said Volkswagen is liaising with Connected Cars to see if it can offer emergency calling down the line, especially given the cars already have a SIM card as part of the package.

As previously reported, this exact third-party connected services system is also being introduced to the ID.4 and ID.5 electric SUVs when they launch locally next year.

MORE: Volkswagen electric cars debuting delayed Tesla-style phone app in Australia