Where is VW's affordable electric hatch? 2025 Volkswagen ID.3 small car to rival the MG4 not a certainty for Australia anymore as electric ID.4 and ID.5 take priority

Volkswagen’s ID.3 is still on the brand’s list of cars to release into Australia, despite a lengthy wait that had some observers wondering if the car would make it here at all.

And now, it seems, even VW Australia is less than completely convinced the Golf-sized BEV will make it here.

Volkswagen has also announced its new partnership with American EV brand Rivian would underpin a future electric Golf, which could spell the end for the ID.3 by the end of the decade.

According to Volkswagen Australia’s product communications manager, Dan DeGasperi, the ID.3 is still “very much on our radar”, despite originally being slated to arrive next year.

But he added that “…our priority has to be the ID.4 and ID.5”, suggesting that SUVs are where the money is right now when it comes to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs).

The ID.3 may perhaps not have the market appeal it once would have, but DeGasperi told CarsGuide VW’s forward planning would always take into account the value it could offer its customers.

Which is another way of saying that some sharpening of the pencil at VW has meant that the price relativity between the ID.3 and ID.4 has now changed.

Volkswagen ID.3

“When we were most interested in ID.3, was when the ID.4 would have been a much higher price point.”

What was once thought to be a $75,000 proposition, the ID4 may now be landed closer to $60,000, making the rumoured (and smaller) $55,000 ID.3 less competitive in the same showroom.

As for delays, he explained that improvements to VW’s various models also meant that not being the first to market in a particular BEV market segment was not always a bad thing.

“Being a bit late means we have the chance to get it right. You also need to look at our family of brands (Cupra, VW, Skoda and Audi) to see that we are a top 10 brand in terms of our constellation of brands.”

Volkswagen ID.3

Certainly, that holds for the lack of a VW ID.3, as the Cupra Born is more or less identical under the skin.

Even allowing for the range of brands within the same family, VW Australia’s managing director, Karsten Seifert, told CarsGuide that soon, the gap between VW’s BEVs available in other markets and this country would narrow to nothing.

“In two or three years’ time, I would hope that Australia would be in the same position (as far as model availability goes) as the rest of the world”.

“We are pretty confident that in the next 48 months we would have the right EV range in place.”

Whether that still includes the ID.3 remains a bit of a mystery, but, reading between the lines, it no longer seems a certainty for Australia.