Volkswagen Delays Return of ID. Buzz to America By Another Year

Volkswagen has pushed back the U.S. return of its electric minivan, again.

Originally set to come back as a 2027 model after skipping the 2026 model year, instead the VW ID. Buzz won't show up in North American dealerships until the 2028 model year, which is expected during the first half of next year.

First reported by Automotive News, Volkswagen confirmed the delay, saying the ID. Buzz remains an important part of the brand's U.S. portfolio and that it plans to introduce a broader range of customer-focused enhancements, which it will share more details about in the coming months. 

In May, Volkswagen announced several updates for the van's 2027 return before this abrupt change in plans. Changes were to include revised trim levels, including a camp-focused Tourer trim, a factory-integrated North American Charging Standard (NACS) port, updated wheel choices, exterior color changes, and revised infotainment software.

The modern Microbus, while nostalgic to look at, has a rocky history in the U.S. market since its launch. Despite years of hype, the van arrived with a starting price near $60,000 and an EPA-estimated range of just 234 miles. Outside of nostalgic hippies with corporate pensions, regular consumers naturally balked. VW sold just 6,140 units to Americans.

Built at Volkswagen's Hanover assembly plant in Germany, the vehicle did not qualify for federal EV tax credits and faced trade tariffs on European imports. Sure, you can point to a pair of early stop-sale orders as not helping, but no one rational should honestly believe that recalls for instrument panel warning lights and a third-row seat that was too wide for compliance catastrophically dented consumer appetite for an overpriced image play.

This delay is part of changes to Volkswagen’s North American strategy. The automaker also stopped production of the ID.4 electric crossover at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant to allocate more capacity for higher-margin — in-demand — gas-powered SUVs.

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