VW ID.Code Concept Previews Styling of EV for Chinese Market

Volkswagen will unveil a new EV concept at the 2024 Beijing Motor Show this week that adopts a design language favored by the Chinese.

The VW ID.Code is the latest in a series of concept and production models in Volkswagen's ID EV family, but its styling is a major departure. The curved front end, high-mounted horizontal lighting elements, and vertical corner lights give this crossover a grin, and the wheel arches are more defined than on previous ID models.

VW did not mention specifications, but said the ID.Code is designed with manual driving and SAE Level 4 autonomous driving modes in mind.

Some of the styling of the ID.Code will likely be used in future VW EVs sold in the Chinese market; VW plans to launch a new sub-brand called ID.UX in China in 2027 with five models. These models will be one of 16 ID family EVs that VW plans to line up globally by 2030; VW's plans for the Chinese market also include a new plug-in hybrid with a range of over 62 miles (likely measured on a local test cycle).

So far, all production models in the ID family have used the MEB platform, but VW is also developing a new vehicle architecture specifically for the Chinese market; by 2026, VW plans to launch what it calls the China Main Platform (CMP), a VW is planning four EVs based on such a platform, called the China Main Platform (CMP), by 2026, and is also partnering with Chinese automaker Xpeng on the EV platform. This partnership will result in two models by 2026 as well.

Outside of China, VW plans to launch two smaller, more affordable ID models in the coming years. The first model is based on the ID.2all concept and will debut in 2026. It will be followed by the smaller and less expensive ID.1 in 2027.