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VW's I.D. Crozz Electric Crossover Launch Might Skip Ahead One Year to 2019

When the Volkswagen Group makes an important decision such as pulling the launch of one of its models forward, you know it wasn't just something that happened out of the blue.
Volkswagen I.D. Crozz Concept 1 photo
Photo: Volkswagen
Traditional carmakers are accused of moving too slowly and taking too long to adapt to change, and that's precisely because every move needs to be carefully weighed by a thousand committees and then approved by a thousand others. It's just how these companies keep the risks to a minimum, though Volkswagen might not be the best example given what happened in September 2015.

Speaking of Dieselgate, the scandal was also what spurred the German carmaker into shifting most of its communication and some of its production and development efforts toward EVs. With a big environmental stain to its name, Volkswagen identified the battery-powered vehicles as its only ticket out, so in these two years that passed since the rigged emissions were unveiled, the company sketched its plans over the next decade or so.

These included the launch of several new electric vehicles designed from the ground up to use the zero-emissions powertrain. Gathered under the I.D. sub-brand, the first one is supposed to launch next year and, Volkswagen can only hope, should become the Golf equivalent for plug-in cars.

The second one is the I.D. Crozz crossover coupe that has been shown at various car shows over the past 18 months. This one was scheduled for a 2020 debut, but according to ecomento.de citing a report in the auto motor und sport German magazine, the release date has been moved to 2019.

Volkswagen's hurry makes some sense considering more and more manufacturers are starting to offer good - or at least decent - EV solutions, and one of the key factors for success is being on the market early enough. Jaguar, for instance, is all but ready to launch the I-PACE, a very similar model that will be a direct competitor of the I.D. Crozz.

Considering the I-PACE, which will become available later this year, has similar performance numbers to the I.D. Crozz, the two-year headstart would be an invaluable advantage over VW's model. And that's focusing on a single competitor. By 2020, Tesla's Model 3 should reach Europe as well not to mention the introduction of the Model Y crossover, another potential direct rival of the I.D. Crozz. Yup, there is no shortage of reasons for VW to hurry the launch of its electric crossover.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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