Though they’ve been teasing concepts of this 21st century Microbus for years, VW has officially announced the sleek, bubbly, all-electric I.D. Buzz this week. This wouldn’t seem all that interesting, if they weren’t positing it as a token for all their recent wrongdoing.
Indeed, Volkswagen is leaning into their disastrous emissions cheating scandal, admitting their fault, and using clever marketing to give a mea culpa, offering an entire new lineup of electric vehicles in the next few years.
Arriving in 2020, the I.D. Buzz (Can we just call it the Buzz?) is part of a wave of new offerings, part of VW’s $50 Billion push to electrify its lineup. We find it interesting that VW is owning their own culpability in the scandal, and refreshing to see some ownership of past wrongdoing, even if it is intended to sell more cars.
‘this campaign is for all of those we disappointed, all of those who stayed with us, those who worked like crazy to keep us moving forward and for all of those who stopped caring,’ said Scott Keogh, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. ‘we have a responsibility to do better, to be greater and we intend to shoulder that responsibility.’
We think this car is way overdue, but are glad VW has used their scandal to change their strategy, and start delivering zero emissions vehicles. What do you think of the design? Take a look at the many product shots below.
