After delays, the VW ID.7 now won’t be coming to the US at all - Related to canceled, trouble, vw, nissan, now

After delays, the VW ID.7 now won’t be coming to the US at all

Volkswagen has officially cancelled the long-delayed [website] electric sedan in America, instead focusing on selling it in Europe and China.

The [website] is VW’s electric mid-size sedan offering, currently available (and selling well) in Europe and also in China.

Previously the [website] had been intended to launch in 2024 in North America, after launching in Europe in 2023. But when launch time came close, VW delayed the North American debut of the model indefinitely last May.

As lately as October, VW America’s boss Pablo Di Si (who has since moved on) expressed that the [website] could still come in 2025.

But now we know that that indefinite delay is now fully definite: the model has been canceled in the US and Canada.

The news was broken yesterday by The Car Guide, speaking with a VW Canada representative. We’ve since reached out to VW, who confirmed the news to us.

Automotive News quoted a VW spokesperson saying the decision was made due to “the ongoing challenging EV climate.” Last year in North America, EV sales grew by 9%, faster than the overall auto market which grew at [website], suggesting that the market is in fact more challenging for non-EVs than EVs at the moment. Further, gas car sales have been in long term decline since 2017, whereas EV sales have risen drastically in that time period.

That growth was achieved with very few available sedan models as well, with almost every EV available in America being an SUV-type. Adding additional model availability could open up the market to more buyers who want a right-sized vehicle instead of a land yacht.

But VW has been having a challenging time itself in the US. Until not long ago, it only offered a single SUV model, the [website], in the US. While the [website] has brought a lot of upgrades not long ago, it’s also one of the few vehicles whose sales were down in a growing market (which was true even before the stop sale which has now been lifted after fixing a door handle problem). Perhaps VW could have benefitted from offering a vehicle in a different format.

VW had previously blamed its delay of the [website] on “market conditions.” It didn’t specify which market conditions it was referring to, but we have some suspicions.

Manufacturers have a belief that Americans only want SUVs (or so they say – really, this is at least partially driven by emissions rules), and the [website] is not one. Although VW at one point did try to portray it as one – when we first saw the [website] it was in the guise of the “Space Vizzion” concept, and VW mentioned it “combines the aerodynamic qualities of a Gran Turismo with the generous interior space of an SUV,” trying to leverage Americans’ supposed desire only for land yachts by portraying a somewhat more sensible wagon as something it’s not.

That stated, the car likely would have been higher-priced than the [website], as it is in Europe. The best-selling electric sedan in the US is the Tesla Model 3, with few other options outside of the luxury market. The [website] could have offered an alternative for buyers who are looking for something that isn’t associated with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, but its likely high starting price might have limited that appeal.

But while this is a disappointment for those of us waiting for more right-sized electric vehicles, it doesn’t mean the end for new VW EVs in the US. Automotive News quoted a VW spokesman as saying that “electric vehicles continue to be a core part of Volkswagen’s long-term product strategy, and new electric models will continue to be introduced for this market.” So, stay tuned for more.

Well, if you still want an electric VW, there’s always the [website] To contact a local dealer and see if they have any VW [website] ready to sell, feel free to use our link. You can also reach out about the [website], if a quirky electric minivan is more your speed.

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Trump just canceled the federal NEVI EV charger program

Trump’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a memo ordering states to suspend all state EV infrastructure deployment plans under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

The $5 billion NEVI program is the big rollout of EV charging infrastructure across the US that was funded by the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Act, and it’s already well underway.

Under the NEVI program, states have to send their plans to the FHWA annually, detailing how they’ll use the funds. During the Biden administration, the FHWA signed off on the first four out of five fiscal years of plans through 2025. However, not all of it has been “obligated” to EV infrastructure projects.

Trump’s FHWA has told states in this memo that they can’t commit funds that were already approved to new EV charging infrastructure. However, money that was already committed is not affected.

Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved. Instructions for the submission of new State plans for all fiscal years will be included in the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance. Since FHWA is suspending the existing State plans, States will be held harmless for not implementing their existing plans. Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments.

I asked Loren McDonald, chief analyst at Paren, what his thoughts were on this latest cancellation, and he, among others (myself included), doesn’t think the FHWA has the authority to stop the NEVI program with a memo – it would need a change in law from Congress – and then the courts will settle it. (Who else is beginning to see a Trump administration theme here?) McDonald mentioned:

I don’t believe FHWA has the authority to pause or rescind any aspect of NEVI. The Trump administration is clearly trying to stop or pause programs like NEVI for as long as they can, but I assume lawsuits from states will start soon, and this will go to court and Congress … but the Trump admin will succeed in just causing havoc and slowing things down for a while. In the end, the Trump administration will likely fail, as only Congress can fundamentally revise and stop the NEVI program.

But, as with everything else rolled back the last few weeks, this will cause chaos and delays. This will cause serious damage to businesses nationwide – from EV charging companies (including Tesla, one of the largest NEVI recipients) to convenience stores and other host sites – and will waste money and cost people jobs.

It should also be noted that NEVI is the very reason that the NACS charging standard exists in the first place.

NEVI was limited only to chargers that could serve multiple makes of vehicles – a reasonable step, that government wouldn’t want to do a giveaway to a single, proprietary firm. This is what caused Tesla to release NACS as a standard in the first place, so that its chargers could access NEVI money.

Then, when the entire industry switched over to the NACS standard, that signaled a potential long period of leadership in EV charging for Tesla. The organization could have been the primary energy provider for EVs in North America for years or even decades to come as a result.

Now, an administration that Elon Musk is involved in is killing the very program that could have led to his enterprise’s dominance in energy delivery – after also firing the entire team that was responsible for making the NACS standard in the first place.

What an awesome way to make America great again.

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Planned merger between Honda and Nissan may be in trouble

Nissan and Honda are "advancing various discussions" regarding proposed merger.

Honda reportedly proposed to make Nissan a subsidiary.

Merger is seen as potential lifeline for Nissan, would create one of world's largest automakers.

The anticipated merger between Honda and Nissan introduced last December, may be encountering significant challenges that, , could potentially lead to its cancellation.

Initially, both automakers planned to finalize their decision by the end of January, but the deadline has been pushed back to mid-February. New tariff threats by the Trump administration are also likely to be weighing on the deliberations.

Now a series of reports citing insiders—and potentially part of the give-and-take of negotiation—indicate that Nissan is reconsidering its participation in the merger.

Citing several information, Reuters reported on Wednesday that Nissan's management expressed concerns over Honda's proposal to make Nissan a subsidiary, a move that could diminish Nissan's decision-making authority within the partnership. That research also appears to imply that negotiations have halted or that Nissan has withdrawn while it retains the option to restart negotiations.

Nissan, after that investigation, has issued a statement confirming that discussions have not ended. "Based on the memorandum of understanding signed on December 23 last year, Honda and our corporation are in the stage of advancing various discussions, including the contents of the investigation, and we plan to establish a direction and make an announcement around mid-February,"

Honda had not yet at the time of writing issued its own equivalent statement. Japan's Asahi Shimbun also reported on Wednesday, perhaps as part of these "discussions," that Honda executives are frustrated with Nissan's slow progress in both the merger discussions and the implementation of a restructuring plan. This plan includes the reduction of 9,000 jobs and a 20% decrease in production capacity.

Unlike Honda, Nissan has been struggling with declining sales, particularly in the [website] and China, raising uncertainty about its future without the merger. Without a clear path forward, the merger has been seen as a potential lifeline. The Financial Times in its own investigation on Wednesday highlighted that Nissan's recent poor financial performance has caused its market capitalization to shrink to just one-fifth of Honda's, altering the balance of power in the negotiations.

Mitsubishi, which is already partially owned by Nissan, was invited to join the merger. However, reports from January suggested that Mitsubishi preferred to stay out of the merger, citing its smaller size and concerns over losing independence within the combined entity.

Even without the merger, Honda and Nissan may deepen their collaboration. The automakers are already partnered in some areas. Honda and Nissan have been collaborating on EV and software development since early last year, and Mitsubishi joined the partnership last summer. Nissan and Mitsubishi also already share vehicle platforms and technology via their existing alliance, which also includes Renault. Mitsubishi has also collaborated with Honda in the past, most in recent times in battery leasing for EVs through a joint venture called Altna.

Combined sales of Honda and Nissan in 2023 totaled more than 8 million vehicles. That would make the merged automaker, estimated to have a value of around $58 billion, the third largest by sales volume after Toyota and the Volkswagen Group, which sold [website] million and [website] million vehicles in 2023, respectively.

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