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VW Microbus

For The 518th Time, There Is More VW ID Buzz News-Yawn!

Because of the problems developing with VW’s first EV called ID. 3 and nothing else much to tout the company is singing its joys yet again about the ID Buzz Microbus-styled EV. VW has been one lucky company with the ID Buzz as a fallback for diversion. Throughout “Dieselgate” and subsequent transgressions, it has been …

Because of the problems developing with VW’s first EV called ID. 3 and nothing else much to tout the company is singing its joys yet again about the ID Buzz Microbus-styled EV. VW has been one lucky company with the ID Buzz as a fallback for diversion. Throughout “Dieselgate” and subsequent transgressions, it has been able to use the ID Buzz for a bit of good news. We’ve endured almost four years of this and will have to endure one more before the retro crossover is finally released.

Five years of grinding out more “news” about the ID Buzz is insufferable

VW ID Buzz, hopefully out before we’re all too old to care | VW

That’s right; five years of grinding out more “news” about the ID Buzz. What prompted this rant? Today some VW board member said the ID Buzz would “reinvigorate the MPV segment through ‘emotional design.’ Oh, please. 

A UK website is giving this board member precious bytes for his views about the vehicle VW revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January 2017. His unabated fawning continued with, “The Buzz has a lot of space, it’s great-looking, the production version is even better than the concept, and it’s the best of the Touran.” 

As a member of the VW board, why don’t you press for quicker development time?

Firstly, if it’s such an awe-inspiring revelation then why, as a member of the board, don’t you press for quicker development time? Wouldn’t five years worth of development be considered lazy at best? Why as a board member would you let such a revolutionary vehicle languish in development while the Golf and Polo represent VW’s best? After all, they’re your best-selling vehicles. 

Some would argue they are boring. The ID Buzz would inject some adrenalin in an otherwise invisible lineup of toasters. We guess what this all comes down to is that we’ve heard nothing from VW but the ID Buzz for so long it’s time to move on to some other far-off concept that bests the ID Buzz. That way there is a fresh face to tout while whatever VW is developing slogs along through its lackadaisical step-by-step years-long processes. 

Other companies have done the same thing over the years

We don’t mean to crank on VW too much. Other companies have been guilty of the same “wait until you see this” development that seems to go on for decades. The Ford Thunderbird comes to mind. It was shown in concept form at the 1998 Detroit Auto Show. It was shown in various displays every year until the production version was finally released in 2002. There were so many times it was spotlighted over so many years that by the time it was released nobody cared. Just three years later it was gone. 

The same could be said for the C8 Corvette. Granted, it was only shown at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, but spy photos of it in various forms of camouflage showed up every week for years. Yes, it’s an exceptional product, but the hype surrounding it combined with the number of times we’ve seen a version of it has watered down its impact. 

“Oh, that’s it? We’ve seen it already.”

VW ID. Buzz

When we finally saw the real thing in the flesh it was like, “Oh, that’s it? We’ve seen it already.” That’s where we will be at once the production version of the ID Buzz is finally shown. By then it will have been five years of seeing it. For those of us that live and breathe new cars, the ID Buzz has spent its five minutes of fame already.