Rush of familial sticker slashing leaves budget brand at disadvantage at base level.

PRICE reductions on Volkswagen’s electric ID models here have made them cheaper than in Germany and also jilted sister brand Skoda’s budget advantage when base types are compared.

Volkswagen New Zealand’s latest discounts on the list prices for its ID.4 and ID.5 slash $20,000 off the cheapest type’s previous selling price.

Skoda New Zealand, under the same Giltrap Group-run European Motor Distributors umbrella, yesterday also sent out a dealer bulletin advising immediate-effect price changes for Enyaq iV, on a common MEB underpinning and in identical mechanical format to the IDs.

However, the alterations are not uniformly enough to keep the brand with a reputation on producing more affordable cars utilising common VW hardware, and sometimes more specification, at the canny end of the VW Group’s electric price spectrum.

VW NZ repositioning the ID.4 Pro at $59,990 suggests Kiwis will be paying less for this derivative than is asked for a more sparsely-configured representation in Germany. 

There pricing for an ID.4 with the same 77kWh battery appears to start at 38,000 Euros - $NZ66,000 on today’s exchange rate.

The national revisions are in the face of collapse in electric car interest, triggered by curtailment of the rebate for new products costing less than $80,000 (a range all popular types have sat in) and are just the latest saga of a year of topsy turvy turmoil for new EV sellers.

VW NZ recently said it was caught out by Clean Car’s demise; it has halved ID sales forecast and determined to clear out excess stock, with no more coming until that is achieved.

Its latest realignments also put the coupe-profiled but otherwise ID.4-alike ID.5, which is on runout, at $67,490 in Pro and $88,490 in Pro Plus. The ID.4 Pro Plus appears to be exempt.

Skoda’s flagship Enyaq, the Sportline Coupe, which compares to an ID.5 Pro Plus, has gone to $79,990 - a $10,000 reduction.

 The volume-chasing entry Enyaq 80 has lost $12k to site at $67,990 now. However, it remains $8k above the base VW.

Absent from the reschedule is the Enyaq 80 Max. The edition that has held a $5000 premium over the base type and has represented in media interaction appears in limbo; Skoda NZ was unable to confirm its on-going status today.

The Auckland-based operation also says the new stickers are a special pricing promotion and enforced they do not include on-roads, which might vary from dealer to dealer.

The action has occurred as Skoda NZ’s new boss, Alex Brown, is heading home from a visit to Skoda headquarters in Mlada Boleslav, the Czech Republic.

He replaced Rodney Gillard, who departed in December having been with EMD for more than 13 years. He was general manager at Skoda NZ from 2019.

Also lingering in the background is that Enyaq is the first of the MEB cars in line for 2024 model year updates, now hitting the United Kingdom and Ireland. These ‘85’ badged models introduce some minor visual enhancements and a performance boost that adds more power and a small extension to the overall driving range. The same changes are due for ID.4, but VW NZ has already said they’ll be kept out of NZ until its current stocking is sorted. Skoda NZ said last year updated Enyaq would be a 2024 introduction, but has never specified when. In initial comment it said the updated models would be more expensive than current choices. But that was before the NZ market stickers altered.

The sum total of the pricing revisions is that the base Enyaq is effectively back to where it was when announced in February 2023 - pricier than the VW equivalent - although then the gap was considerably wider. 

Original advisory pricing for Enyaq, issued before stock landed, was $92,990 for the 80, $97,990 for the Max and $102,990 for the Coupe. 

By July, still before customer cars started to filter in, those stickers had reduced by $13k.

Very first pricing for ID.4, revealed in September of 2022, had it at $79,990 in Pro - which made it eligible for a Clean Car Discount, then of $8625  - and $89,990 in Pro Plus, while ID.5s in those trims were $85,490 and $94,490. Again, those stickers were subsequently reduced.

The other MEB-platform models here are the Cupra Born and Audi Q4. Websites for those models show no change to pricing.