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UPDATE: Facelifted Volkswagen ID.3 headlights revealed
Volkswagen has teased the headlights of its facelifted ID.3 electric vehicle in a video on Twitter ahead of its March 1 release. An Australian release is still expected in early 2024 following ID.4 and ID.5 later this year.
The short video doesn’t give a huge amount away, but it does showcase slightly different headlights. The items are narrower and appear more aggressive, while inside the lamps continue with the honeycomb mesh around the main beams.
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Click to see a gallery of the ID.3's new headlights
It appears as though there are more LEDs in each unit, potentially improving the spread and accuracy of ID.3’s optional adaptive matrix beam headlights.
Volkswagen has also maintained the same indicator location and LED strip that links the headlights through the centrally-located badge.
The video also seems to confirm that a new army green hue (as seen in the below preview sketches), will become the ID.3's hero colour. We expect the front bumper to ditch its honeycomb motif too, with a cleaner look featuring air curtains on the outer edges.
Our original story, below, continues unchanged
The story to here
December 2, 2022: 2024 Volkswagen ID.3 teased
Just days after brand boss Thomas Schäfer spoke openly about buyer feedback on the disappointing functionality of the carmaker's latest infotainment systems and controls, official new teaser sketches for the updated 2024 Volkswagen ID.3 EV have been released.
And, as local VW product chief Michelle Rowney told Wheels in November when asked why the ID.3 had not yet been given an Australian launch date: "the reason we were waiting for it is that it’s substantially upgraded. It's about as re-invented as a midlife reinvention could be."
It now seems a 2024 launch in Australia is all but confirmed. (Even European buyers will not see delivery of most variants, thanks again to semiconductor shortages, until late 2023.)
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As for what the updated ID.3 will bring, the brand says, again with surprising openness: "Volkswagen has listened to its customers and implemented many of their suggestions".
Among those changes is a boost in interior material quality, seemingly restoring the ID.3 to the sort of production budget enjoyed by Volkswagen before it was forced to pour more than $50 billion ↗ into Dieselgate penalties and its pivot to an electric focus.
At this point, it's not expected that buyers will see any changes to physical controls, particularly as the one actual photograph released today shows the same single-piece indented steering wheel controls used in the current model. As Schäfer previously commented, new physical switches won't appear until the next Tiguan SUV arrives.
Likewise, controlling all four windows remains a job of toggling the two switches between front and rear – via a button just below the toggle used to control the left and right powered door mirrors.
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Above: the updated ID.3 interior
The sketches do hint at a more premium dash finish, however, with what appears to be a new soft-touch surface with the stitched seams that have come to symbolise quality over the past decade-or-so. (Indeed, we've more than once seen fake stitched seams moulded into the hard and soft plastic dashes of cheaper models.)
And, unless Volkswagen is toying with us, the sketches also hint at illuminated capacitive sliders at the bottom of the centre display panel, addressing a major complaint among owners and media alike. One confirmed detail, at least, is an upgrade to the display's dimensions, growing from 10 to 12 inches – matching that of the bigger ID.4 SUV.
On the outside, it appears we can expect a new front bumper design, with the rest of the ID.3's exterior styling otherwise unchanged for the new model year. Not quite "about as re-invented as a midlife reinvention could be," but it's a start.
Watch for more details as the updated ID.3 makes its official debut next year.
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The story to here
November 28: VW boss talks quality at LA auto show
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer has spoken candidly this past week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, telling the UK's Car magazine that the business is well aware of the media and market feedback on the infotainment experience in some of its more recent models.
"We know what we need to do," Schäfer told Car. "We’ve got feedback from customers, we’ve feedback from clinics and from journalists… They say, 'You know this is not good. You’ve got to improve this'."
Schäfer said improvements will come to the infotainment software in existing models already on the market by the end of 2022, while updated hardware –including faster processors and physical buttons to replace the glossy single-piece capacitive buttons and sliders of the steering wheels and dash controls – will come with refreshed and brand-new models from next year.
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As Car notes, the change can be considered similar to what tech giant Apple has done with its MacBooks, dropping the derided 'touch bar' to return to physical keys for the function row across the top of the keyboard.
In particular, Schäfer said one of the most common complaints for its infotainment controls centred on the capacitive slider beneath the display, which was not illuminated and thus difficult to work at night. This too has been corrected for MY23 vehicles.
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Schäfer admitted that the feedback from market – and likely also from senior executives within the group, once they'd experienced the issue in their own company pool cars – has been so loud that the board now convenes monthly with the responsible teams to tinker directly with mockups produced for their approval.
More user clinics have also been put together. "We use random people. If you asked our own employees all the time, they’ll say that it’s great. But they’re biased! You need to take people from all walks of life, including ages," Schäfer said.
It's a remarkably frank interview, so be sure to read it in full at CarMagazine.co.uk.
UPDATE: Australian VW comments on ID.3, ID.4 and ID.Buzz
Speaking with Wheels Media at a recent drive event in Sydney, communications chief Paul Pottinger and product boss Michelle Rowney touched on the ideas behind the launch schedule for its incoming new electric models.
Asked about the order of its electric model launches, Mr Pottinger said: “Someone was asking me: ‘Why not launch ID.3 [before ID.4], it’s cheaper?’ That’s like saying Golf is cheaper than Tiguan – but everyone wants a Tiguan.”
Ms Rowney added: “We want to deliver what our customers really want [and ID.4] is what Volkswagen customers want."
Now that we know the ID.3 is set for a big quality overhaul (outlined in our original story below), the local execs are prepared to talk more on its Australian launch timing.
“And, the reason we were waiting for it is that it’s substantially upgraded. It's about as re-invented as a midlife reinvention could be", she said.
“[So] we’ll get it earlier. It was always following ID.4 and ID.5, so it will come the following year, 2024, and [the facelift being pulled forwards] means we’ll get it earlier."
The chat also brought further confirmation that the ID.Buzz will come to Australia, albeit not until after the ID.3.
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October 29: ID.3 facelift to overhaul quality, small electric SUV coming
“The new 2023 Volkswagen ID.3 is taking a significant and noticeable leap forward in terms of quality, materials and system stability. [It's] a car that delivers what the Volkswagen brand promises.”
Snapshot
- ID.3 facelift rushing to market with big quality boost
- ID.3 to get a small electric SUV companion
- VW boss plans to re-establish brand as a benchmark
The rush for legacy car makers to introduce new electric models continues apace, with Volkswagen’s top brass revealing two key details this week:
An ID.3 electric SUV is in the works, and a significant update is imminent for the existing ID.3 electric hatch.
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Speaking with the UK’s Autocar on the topic of the ID.3 hatch, VW group boss Thomas Schäfer said, “We’ve listened very carefully to the ID.3 community, and we’re bringing forward the facelift of our first MEB [platform] model to 2023.”
Schäfer expanded on his expectations for the electric hatch, adding:
“The new Volkswagen ID.3 is taking a significant and noticeable leap forward in terms of quality, materials and system stability. [It's] a car that delivers what the Volkswagen brand promises.”
In his interview with Autocar, Schäfer said the Volkswagen group he leads has rediscovered an obsession with setting the standard for the market, “with product substance, top design, quality and handling of our cars”.
This news follows reports of troubles with the ID.3’s infotainment – a bugbear that some suggested was the cause for departure of previous CEO Herbert Diess.
A key upgrade in the cabin is expected to be the return of physical controls, a result of feedback from a new Customer Focus Board Committee, established to “discuss specific customer wishes, and quickly implement them”.
Schäfer’s acceleration of the updated ID.3’s launch reveals a renewed focus the new CEO is bringing to the German brand, particularly on its introductory EV models, ahead of looming regulatory deadlines.
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Volkswagen ID.3-based electric SUV coming
While Europe’s 2035 ban on the sale of internal combustion engined vehicles is still over a decade away, VW is accelerating development in order to have a solid variety of electric vehicles ready.
Having a diverse range of EVs in dealerships would help cater to all the various tastes of the market, with the new CEO revealing plans for an ID.3-based crossover vehicle as well.
“[VW is] working hard to develop an additional compact SUV based on the ID 3 so that we can also launch a Volkswagen product in this fast-growing vehicle segment.” Schäfer said.
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Volkswagen's mid-size ID.4 is currently its smallest electric SUV
Details of the new model are still to come, but buyers can likely expect to see a model with unique styling but a similar footprint – similar to the relationship between the existing Volkswagen Golf hatch and T-Roc SUV.
It will be a critical model for Volkswagen, because the ID.4 is currently the brand's smallest electric SUV. A smaller Golf-sized SUV would significantly improve affordability and likely boost sales, given the popularity of the small-SUV segment globally.
The new model, along with the updated ID.3 hatch, will be among 10 new and updated EVs to launch in the Volkswagen ID range by 2026.
“From the entry-level e-car with a target price of under €25,000 (AU$39,000) to the Volkswagen ID Buzz and the new flagship Volkswagen ID Aero, we will have the right offer in every segment,” Schäfer told Autocar.
When will the ID.3 finally come to Australia, and what about this new SUV model?
While the ID.3 has been confirmed for Australia, it’s unlikely to hit our showrooms until 2024.
But, given the popularity of high-riding models in Australia, the SUV version of the ID.3 is likely to be a sure thing for our market.
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