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MUNICH — Volkswagen Group saved millions of euros by combining the development of its four new small electric cars for its VW, Skoda and Cupra brands, allowing the automaker to keep prices low as Chinese competitors expand into Europe.
The arrival of the small EVs, which will be priced between €25,000 and €30,000, will help VW Group fill a big gap in its EV range.
The automaker has no small electric cars on the market now, which gives rivals such as Renault and Stellantis an advantage, as well as Chinese brands that are targeting the market with low-cost EVs.
VW Group’s Spanish subsidiary Seat/Cupra led development of the new EVs, which the automaker calls its Electric Urban Car Family, and the four models will be built in Spain.
Total savings that VW made during the cars’ development process amounted to more than €600 million, said Thomas Schaefer, who is charge of VW Group’s volume brands.
VW Group debuted the EVs, either as near-production concepts or wrapped in camouflage, at the IAA Munich auto show.
The four EVs are the VW ID Polo small hatchback and ID Cross small SUV, the Cupra Raval small hatchback and the Skoda Epiq small SUV.
Schaefer said the EVs use VW Group’s MEB+ front-wheel drive platform that offers driving ranges of up to 450 km range, along with fast charging and generous interior space. All models will use a version of the “very competitive” ID7 midsize sedan software, he added.
During the IAA show, Seat/Cupra CEO Markus Haupt said the savings came from areas such as having one development team in Spain and sourcing of the common parts at lower prices thanks to the higher volumes.
The VW ID Polo and the Cupra Raval will be built at Seat’s Martorell plant near Barcelona while the VW ID Cross and Skoda Epiq will be produced at VW brand’s Spanish plant in Pamplona.
The Cupra Raval will be the first car to reach the market, in the first half of 2026, followed by the VW ID Polo a few months later. The Raval will cost below €27,000, making the hatchback more expensive than the ID Polo and Skoda Epiq.
The VW ID Polo will cost under €25,000, while the Skoda Epiq will be priced in line with the brand’s combustion-engine equivalent, the Kamiq, which starts at €25,330 in Germany.
The fourth family member, the ID Cross, will be more spacious than the other three models and is expected to be priced between €28,000 and €30,000.
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European sales of small BEVs increased 30 percent to 226,420 in the first seven months compared with the same period in 2024. Small BEVs made up 16.4 percent of all BEV sales but only 8.5 percent of total sales in the small segment.
The Renault 5 E-Tech was Europe’s top-selling small battery-electric car through July with 39,752 sales, followed by the Volvo EX-30 with a volume of 26,254 and the Citroen e-C3 from Stellantis’s Citroen brand with 24,664 sales, according to Dataforce market researcher.
Other competitors in the segment include the BYD Dolphin Surf, Opel Frontera, Fiat Grande Panda, Peugeot 208 and 2008. The Hyundai Ioniq 3 will also be a rival when it launches in 2026.
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