Car giant presses pause on EV production lines

The Volkswagen Group is reportedly scaling back production of three important electric vehicles, exposing potential future problems.

As reported by Bloomberg, insiders have told the publication that production has been reduced across two of the German giant’s EV-only factories, due to reduced demand.

According to the insiders, Volkswagen’s Emden plant is cutting back staffing hours and will close its production lines for multiple days, impacting the ID.4 SUV and ID.7 sedan/wagon.

The move is somewhat of a surprise, given the ID.4 and ID.7 were the third- and fifth-best selling EVs in Europe throughout the first six months of 2025, and aided Volkswagen to an overall EV sales win in August.

Both models however are impacted by fluctuating demand in other markets, with the ID.4 in particular vulnerable in the US. Deliveries only recently kicked off in Australia, where last month 219 examples were sold, about half as many as the petrol-powered Tiguan.

In addition to the reported upcoming slow downs at Emden, the Zwickau plant which produces the Audi Q4 e-tron is set to pause production for a week in October.

The report claims the electric SUV is not only being impacted by the US tariffs on foreign vehicles, but also a renewed push by the German government to soften the upcoming petrol and diesel car ban, due to take place in 2035.

As noted by Bloomberg, while the Volkswagen Group performs relatively well in Europe’s EV sales race, the market itself isn’t consistent and hasn’t grown at the rate once forecast.

As previously reported, this has led Volkswagen to make some pretty big changes, last year making Zwickau the only production facility for the Q4 e-tron from 2027 – having until now built the ID.4, plus the ID.3 and Cupra Born hatchbacks – while the ID.4 will soon only be made at Emden.

This relatively cool EV market has also impacted Ford, which launched two electric models based off the ID.4 (the Explorer) and the sloped-back ID.5 (the Capri).

Earlier this month Ford announced it’ll cut nearly one-quarter of its relevant workforce due to it, with 1000 job cuts at the Cologne factory where the EV twins are built set to be made from January 2026.