Volkswagen is fighting Dacia Spring: what model does it want to bring back to the market

VW wants to provide a small, affordable electric car to cover the production gap until the launch of ID Life.

Volkswagen plans to restart sales of the battery-powered version of its Up mini car to meet the growing demand for affordable electric cars.

VW stopped selling e-Ups in 2020, when government incentives to encourage electric vehicle purchases boosted demand. The model was not designed for large volumes, and its sale with discounts was not profitable, according to the German press.

But the success of sales of small electric cars, such as Renault Zoe and Dacia Spring, shows that there is a market demand for low-cost electric vehicles.

“We’ve temporarily phased out e-Ups in 2020 because delivery times have increased dramatically due to high demand,” VW said. “It has now been decided to reintroduce e-Up into the ordering program.”

The electric car rental company Nextmove said that the e-Up in the “Style Plus” version is about to return with a list price of about 26,500 euros and a range of about 250 km.

The final price of the customer would be around 17,000 euros according to the government incentives offered in Germany.

Strong competition

Dacia sales increased by 3% in 2021, an increase that can be largely attributed to the new Spring model. The small car is assembled in China and is the least expensive all-electric vehicle on the European market.

As of March, 27,876 Spring have been registered, with 46,000 orders since then, Dacia said.

Dacia’s director of sales and marketing, Xavier Martinet, said that 80% of sales went to private buyers, despite an early focus on rental fleets, a percentage that is consistent with Dacia in general. The “value for money” brand has kept its margins by avoiding less profitable sales channels.

The main attraction for Dacia buyers is the price, up to 17,000 euros, without incentives, at a time when most electric vehicles sell for over 30,000 euros in Europe.