Volkswagen to sell first fully-electric cars in South Africa

Volkswagen has announced that it will sell its first fully-electric cars in South Africa as part of a major green push into the country.

In a statement on Tuesday (2 November), the group said that its new electric mobility strategy started in South Africa in 2020 with the launch of an e-Golf test fleet.

The e-Golfs were used for research purposes and testing by motoring media as well as Volkswagen dealers in an effort to gain valuable insights into the experiences of living with an electric vehicle in South Africa, it said.

“It is important for us to conduct thorough research on electric vehicles before introducing them in South Africa. With the e-Golf test fleet, we exposed hundreds of Volkswagen customers to electric vehicles and over 90% of those customers indicated that they would consider buying an electric vehicle in the future,” said Steffen Knapp, head of the Volkswagen Passenger Car Brand.

“This year, we also brought in a fleet of Volkswagen ID.3 vehicles which were used for experiential events for corporate clients, dealers as well as motoring media,” added Knapp.

The second phase of Volkswagen’s strategy will see the introduction of an all-electric ID.4 test fleet in 2022.

“Most South African drivers currently prefer internal combustion engine cars. In order to be South Africa’s best-selling electric vehicle brand, we first need to educate our consumers by getting as many of them as possible to experience electric vehicles with the hope of changing perceptions.

“The introduction of the all-electric and best-selling ID.4 will assist us with gaining valuable insights which will pave the way for Volkswagen to include electric vehicles in the future product portfolio in South Africa,” said Knapp.

The third phase of the electric mobility strategy will see the first fully-electric Volkswagen vehicles going on sale in South Africa, the group said.

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