Author: Tian Hui

ID.3 made its debut at the Chengdu Auto Show, marking another step forward for Volkswagen’s electric vehicle offensive.

Prior to this, the slow start of the ID series in the Chinese market has proven that the success of the gasoline car market cannot be directly replicated in the electric car market.

Especially in the domestic electric vehicle market, Volkswagen’s competitors, whether they are self-owned brands that have been racing for many years or newly emerging car-making forces that are not afraid of new challenges, or foreign-funded industry leader Tesla, have already achieved good results in the Chinese market.

However, in the domestic market, the only thing that Volkswagen’s ID series electric vehicles face is a landing attack.

Volkswagen must succeed in the electric vehicle market to gain a foothold in the future market.

After the launch of ID.4 and ID.6, this landing attack has already pushed into the beachhead. However, the later reinforcements – Shanghai Volkswagen ID.3 – are the ones who will take on the task of landing.

At the Chengdu Auto Show on August 29th, the debut of SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 marked the beginning of the most important chapter in the landing attack to seize the beachhead.

ID.3 is positioned as a cross-border hatchback, and if you have to compare it to a gasoline car, the best model is the Golf, which is also Volkswagen’s best model. ID.3 lives up to expectations and occupies the top spot on the best-selling list in Europe.

So, what is the product strength of Volkswagen ID.3 that will lead Volkswagen to open up the domestic market and launch a landing attack?

After the press conference at the auto show, “Electric Vehicle Observer” had the opportunity to experience the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 at the fun open day.

Stylish Exterior

In terms of appearance, Volkswagen has always been at the forefront, and SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 is no exception. This time, it is mainly characterized as stylish.

The ID.3 has a very distinctive style of electric vehicles on the design. In terms of the front face, the ID.3 does not use the popular chrome design, as this may cause environmental pollution problems caused by the chrome plating process.

Instead of chrome, a polished front face is used. SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 applies the “light” element to different areas at the front of the car, such as the use of a continuously running daytime light design and Beauty Eyes bionic headlight design in the front of the car. The outer side of the bumper uses a particle-like concave point texture, and is arranged in a parametric manner along the lower bumper contour.

SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 offers 5 different body colors: Aurora Green, Cyber Yellow, Superconductive Red, Ion Gray, and Crystal White. In terms of the design of the entire vehicle, the front compartment of the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 is short and low, and the inclination angle of the A-pillar is large.

On the top of the front compartment cover of the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3, there is also a black decoration plate, which reduces the visual proportion of the front of the car on the one hand, and makes the body color more smooth on the other hand. This black cover plate, together with the roof and the tail wing, forms the dual-color body line of the entire vehicle.

In terms of the design of the side of SAIC Volkswagen ID.3, it retains classic design elements such as traditional door handles, while also boldly innovating. On the surface of the C-pillar, a gradually changing beam particle pattern is used as decoration, echoing the design of the front face, increasing the recognition of the body, and shaping a dynamic and powerful side shape.

The newly designed starfish petal-shaped wheels of the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 adopt dual-color precision machining technology, with novel and interesting shapes, and are made of aluminum alloy material, which is more distinctive compared to models with plastic-shaped wheels. In terms of tire specifications, the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 uses 20-inch tires, which adds a sense of sportiness to the entire vehicle.

At the rear of the car body, the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 adopts a black tailgate with a white LOGO. It is worth mentioning that the white LOGO is also the switch for opening the tailgate. This is a design that pays tribute to the brand’s classic elements while also embodying a modern and personalized design style.

The interior adopts a color-mixing process

What you see may not be true, at least for the seats of the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3.

The interior of the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 adopts a color-mixing design, which is inspired by European impressionist oil paintings. By combining different colors, the color presented in the eyes of the audience is another color.# Interior Design of SAIC Volkswagen ID.3
SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 uses blue and yellow threads for its seat material on Aurora Green interior. With the integration of metallic threads, the colors and shadows of the interior look different from various angles and lights.

In terms of cabin design, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 adopts the design style of the ID family, which is the sculptural decorative panel with a 10-inch suspended central control screen to create a futuristic look.

For interior colors, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 offers both light and dark versions. The light interior performs better in terms of attraction.

It is worth mentioning that SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 did not adopt the traditional high-platform design. Instead, it used a low-platform interior design and equipped front seat armrests to enhance ride comfort.

As for the space, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 performs well, especially in terms of headroom. With a model height of 186cm in the front seat, there is still more than 3 fingers of distance to the ceiling.

SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 has a length of 4261mm, a width of 1809mm, a height of 1552mm, and a wheelbase of 2765mm. The ratio of wheelbase to length exceeds 65%. For example, the Volkswagen Golf has a length of 4296mm with only a wheelbase of 2636mm. Therefore, in terms of interior space performance, the ID.3 outperforms the Golf.

Especially noteworthy is that the rear floor of SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 adopts a fully flat design, which improves the ride comfort of rear passengers.

SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 supports 4/6 folding down of the rear seats. After folding down the seats to expand the space, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 can accommodate long items such as bicycles and skis, and in regular mode, it can accommodate 3 suitcases easily.

Intelligence and Fun Combined

In terms of intelligence that Chinese consumers are concerned about, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 is not inferior.

On the ID.3, SAIC Volkswagen embeds the intelligent car connection system and combines it with the SAIC Volkswagen Super APP. This combination allows car owners to enjoy online services such as charging, navigation, entertainment, car control, and travel to enhance the experience of driving.

SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 is equipped with AR-HUD augmented reality heads-up display, which can project driving information and road navigation information onto the windshield, and fuse them with the visual information of the road.

In front of the instrument panel, the ID. Light voice control system can emit different colors of lights for navigation, incoming calls, voice interaction, warnings and other scenarios, making it convenient for drivers and passengers to experience the communication brought by sound and light.

In terms of driving assistance, SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 uses the IQ. Drive L2 + level driving assistance system, which supports ACC adaptive cruise control, LKA lane-keeping assist, and other functions, and also supports more advanced lane-change assist.

ID.3’s Tactical Rear

For Volkswagen, whether ID.3 can successfully enter the Chinese market is crucial.

The sluggish performance of ID.4 and ID.6 made onlookers sweat for Volkswagen. It was not until July that the ID family finally achieved a monthly sales volume of over 6,000 units, which stabilized its sales.

In this counter-landing battle, ID.4 and ID.6 have made it to the beachhead. It is time for the landing forces to appear and carry out landing operations.The amphibious landing operation is undoubtedly the most difficult task, and without substantial strength, it cannot be accomplished. This daunting task has been entrusted to the ID.3, or more precisely, to SAIC Volkswagen’s ID.3.

An undeniable fact is that the ID.3 is only locally produced by SAIC Volkswagen, and First Automotive Works (FAW) Volkswagen has not introduced this vehicle, which is completely different from the ID.4 and ID.6.

While the official reasons for this remain unknown, it may be related to SAIC Volkswagen’s ability to fight tough battles.

SAIC Volkswagen’s marketing team has successfully created miracles with the Passat and the Tiguan, with sales of over three million and two million units respectively, making them Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicles in the Chinese market.

Therefore, entrusting the ID.3 to SAIC Volkswagen is clearly a more reliable choice, as this marketing team has proven itself. However, winning the landing battle facing the SAIC Volkswagen ID.3 is far from easy.

In the 345th batch of automotive announcements issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in June, SAIC Volkswagen applied for the ID.3, which is equipped with a 57.3 kWh ternary lithium battery, providing a range of 430 kilometers. But in the fiercely competitive Chinese market, the ID.3 needs to be even stronger, as the competitors are not to be underestimated.

Moreover, next year’s Tesla Model 2 will also enter this market.

Yu Jingmin, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of SAIC Volkswagen, frankly stated, “Model 2 is a formidable opponent that cannot be ignored, but our ID.3 surpassed Model 3 in Europe, and we believe it can do the same domestically.”

Yu Jingmin indeed has the confidence to say this, as SAIC Volkswagen not only has a huge dealer network but also has tried a direct sales model with the ID series, which is more mature than Tesla’s single direct sales model.

After its debut at the Chengdu Motor Show, SAIC Volkswagen’s ID.3 began blind bookings, with a deposit of 300 yuan deducted from the car price of 3,000 yuan. The earliest deliveries will be made in October, and the final price will be announced during the Guangzhou Motor Show, with the top trim level priced at no more than 200,000 yuan.

At this price and with this product strength, whether it can successfully land in the Chinese market remains to be seen.

However, one thing is certain: a landing operation is always a do-or-die battle.

Success or failure depends on this one shot.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.