Volkswagen is suing a German car dealer for importing the China-exclusive ID.6 electric vehicle (EV) into Germany.
In 2022, German car dealer Gregory Brudny offered the Volkswagen ID.6 EV for sale to customers in Germany. The ID.6 EV is produced in China by the FAW-VW joint venture and is meant to be sold exclusively in the Chinese car market.
Brudny bought 22 ID.6 vehicles built by FAW-VW from an authorized VW dealer in China. The Chinese vehicle registration states that the vehicles Brudny purchased were intended for export and technically adapted to meet the Federal Motor Transport Authority’s requirements.
The ID.6 costs significantly less than electric vehicles in the European EV market—even after import costs, it seems. Bringing the FAW-VW ID.6 to Europe would provide local customers with an affordable EV option but probably undermine the EV price range in Europe.
However, VW states that the ID.6 does not adhere to European vehicle standards and therefore can not be sold in Europe.
“The ID models produced for and in China and sold there are not eligible for approval in Europe due to their hardware and software configuration. Technically, they differ significantly from the versions for the European market,” commented a Volkswagen spokesperson to Automobilwoche.
China’s global electric vehicle offerings often beat local EV prices, making them more attractive to domestic customers. In Europe, the European Commission initiated an anti-subsidy probe into EV imports from China.
According to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von Der Leye, Europe’s EV market is flooded with cheap electric vehicles, with prices kept artificially low by state subsidies. The anti-subsidy probe prompted China to investigate luxury liquor producers from Europe selling products locally.
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