Now that 2024 is officially behind us, we’re getting a clearer picture of who was up and who was down in the electric vehicle sales race. Volkswagen, unfortunately, did not have the strongest ending to last year with U.S. sales of the electric ID.4 crossover being down 94% in the fourth quarter and down 55% overall since 2023—but you can chalk a lot of that up to the fact that the ID.4 hasn’t even been on sale for months.
Now, however, Volkswagen’s national nightmare appears to be over. The automaker announced Friday that the ID.4’s stop-sale order has been lifted and that U.S. dealers are clear to start selling them again. Moreover, U.S. production of the ID.4 is set to resume soon as well, “with the aim of re-instating the ID.4 to its prior position as one of the best-selling electric vehicles in the U.S. and Canada,” VW officials said in a news release.
And VW clearly wants to make up for lost time. “To celebrate the cars coming back onto the market, Volkswagen will be making some highly competitive lease offers on ID.4s, making what was one of the most affordable electric compact SUVs even more attainable,” the automaker added.
The past few months have indeed been tough for the ID.4, once a groundbreaking crossover and one of the earliest Tesla Model Y-style electric competitors from a so-called “traditional” automaker.
In late September, ID.4 sales and then production were halted due to a faulty electronic door-opening mechanism that was said to cause the doors to open unexpectedly. About 100,000 ID.4s were initially recalled. The move impacted 2021-24 ID.4s and all four of their door handles.
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Evidently, getting the replacement parts in was a challenge for VW. Parts didn’t begin shipping to dealers until just before Christmas, Automotive News reported. But now that dealers have those parts, customers can get them fixed and sales are clear to start up again.
The recall meant the ID.4 completely missed an end-of-year rush on EV sales in the U.S., prompted by aggressive deals and fears that incoming President Donald Trump will end the EV tax credit entirely. So if you’re interested in an ID.4 now, keep an eye out for deals—especially leases—that could make it more enticing than ever. In general, VW has struggled with the electric transition it committed to across the globe, as many new models have faced delays, production problems and software headaches.
Even so, our most recent test of the updated-for-2024 ID.4 yielded positive results. Though the ID.4’s best features and specs are generally reserved for its higher trim levels, we’ve found it to be a capable, fun-to-drive crossover with solid range. The ID.4 comes in Standard, Pro and Pro S forms, with rear-wheel-drive or available all-wheel-drive for the latter two trims and up to 291 miles of range. It starts at $39,735 for the basic Standard model and goes up to $53,875 for the AWD Pro S model, although at least for now, the car has lost its EV tax credit for 2025—hence the renewed emphasis on lease deals.
Can the ID.4 get back in the game for 2025? Let us know if you think it’s still a solid option this year.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
