Volkswagen Group has secured nearly 150,000 orders for its four affordable electric vehicles, which were brought together for the first time at an event in Paris on Sunday.
The Volkswagen ID. Polo and ID. Cross, Škoda Epiq and CUPRA Raval form the group’s Electric Urban Car Family, developed to make battery-electric vehicles more accessible to European buyers.
The four models were presented at the Palais de Tokyo ahead of the Paris Motor Show, which opens today.
Volkswagen said the order tally was achieved before customer deliveries had begun, indicating strong demand for smaller, lower-priced EVs.
The vehicles share the MEB+ platform, with more than 80% of their components and technologies common across the range.
This approach allows Volkswagen to spread development and manufacturing costs across three brands while retaining separate designs, equipment and brand identities.
Production is concentrated at two Spanish factories, in Martorell and Pamplona, as part of the group’s effort to strengthen its European manufacturing base.
Thomas Schäfer, Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO and head of Brand Group Core, said sharing development and production resources would help the company achieve economies of scale without sacrificing brand differentiation.
The four-model programme forms part of Volkswagen’s wider restructuring, which aims to reduce complexity, accelerate vehicle development and improve profitability.
The group also plans to increase the use of artificial intelligence in hardware and software development, alongside greater standardisation of platforms and vehicle architectures.
Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said European manufacturers needed to improve competitiveness while policymakers established conditions that supported investment and local production.
The company is seeking regulatory support for European manufacturing and the expansion of electric mobility amid growing international competition.
Its affordable EV programme demonstrates how Volkswagen intends to compete in Europe’s volume market through shared engineering and localised production.
