VW ID6 pops up on China regulator website

The Volkswagen ID6, an electric vehicle with seating for up to seven passengers and planned for China, has broken cover.

Photos of the ID6, based on the ID Roomzz concept from 2019, were posted on the website of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this week.

Volkswagen Group's joint venture with SAIC received approval from the regulator to produce and sell the large EV in China.

It will be built at a new SAIC-Volkswagen plant in Shanghai with annual capacity of 300,000. When the Roomzz concept was introduced, VW CEO Herbert Diess said the flagship crossover would eventually be introduced in other markets but did not comment on the timing.

VW brand's sales and marketing director, Juergen Stackmann, told AutoExpress magazine in 2019 that the production ID Roomz would be sold in the U.S. but was unlikely to be marketed in Europe where buyers prefer a compact car shape and not "extra large."

A new $800 million assembly plant at VW's U.S. manufacturing hub in Tennessee will also produce EVs.

VW is already producing two smaller EVs at joint ventures in China — the ID4 Crozz assembled at FAW-Volkswagen in Foshan and the ID4 X built by SAIC Volkswagen in Shanghai.

Volkswagen said in November that production of three additional ID family models will start in China in 2021. Altogether, VW plans to introduce eight ID models in China by 2023.

The ID6 is based on the same modular electric matrix (MEB) platform Volkswagen is rolling out worldwide. It is 292 mm (11.5 inches) longer than the ID4 and 615 mm (24.2 inches) longer than the ID3 hatchback sold only in Europe, information posted on the China site indicates.

In China, according to government documents, the base-level ID6 will be equipped with an 82 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery. Two powertrain options will be offered: a base, entry-level model with one 75 kilowatt electric motor with 100 hp, and a top-end model with two of the motors, one at each end of the vehicle, for combined power of 150 kW and 201 hp.

It will be offered with rear- or all-wheel drive and a one-speed transmission, government documents show.