Volkswagen said on Thursday that it has halted U.S. deliveries of its electric minivan, the ID. Buzz, over a technical issue, according to a report by AFP.
A spokesman for the German group, Tobias Riepe, told the outlet that “no electric ID. Buzz models made in Hanover are currently being delivered to North America due to a technical recall.
According to Riepe, American authorities said that the van’s rear seats are “deemed too wide for the vehicle.”
However, other Volkswagen insiders told German media outlet Handelsblatt that the main reason was the U.S. 25% tariff on imported vehicles and auto parts, imposed by Donald Trump in early April.
The ID. Buzz is manufactured in Hanover, Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered.
On Wednesday, German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “cautiously optimistic” that the U.S. and the EU could reach a trade agreement by the end of July.
Country-specific duties were suspended three months ago, as the U.S. President said he was negotiating them with several countries.
This week, Trump announced he will begin sending letters to trade partners before the July 9 deadline and that the duties will be pushed back to August 1.
These letters will outline the new tariffs — either agreed-upon rates from negotiations or higher tariffs for countries that didn’t make a deal.
According to Politico, the U.S. Administration is maintaining its 10% baseline tariff on goods imported from the European Union.
Despite the EU’s requests, the U.S. has not granted exemptions for politically sensitive industries such as vehicles, steel, or pharmaceuticals.
Volkswagen released its deliveries report on Wednesday, stating that it handed over 4.14 million vehicles in the first half of 2025, up 1.3% year over year.
From those, 465,500 were battery electric vehicles (BEV) — of which sales were up 47% from the same period a year ago. Volkswagen‘s BEV market share in Europe grew by 89% to 28%.
Its main brand saw a 14.3% increase in EV sales, reaching 192,600 units. Skoda’s electric sales jumped 147.8% to 73,000, while Seat and Cupra together rose 105.3% to 37,600.
Audi grew 32.3% to 101,400 EVs, and Porsche‘s electric vehicle deliveries surged 279% to 34,200, thanks to high demand for the electric Macan — despite overall sales being down 6% year over year, marked by sharp drops in both Germany and China.
However, registrations overall declined 6.7% in North America since the beginning of the year. In the second quarter alone — since Trump’s tariffs were imposed — Volkswagen deliveries fell by 16.2%.
“In the USA, the main market [in North America], the decline amounted to 8.5 percent in a challenging environment,” the legacy automaker stated.
In China, despite a slight growth year over year in the first half, the group also delivered less vehicles in the second quarter — down 2.3%, “mainly due to the intense competitive situation.”
Last month, Volkswagen‘s subsidiary Moia announced the series production model of its self-driving ID Buzz minivans, which will join its planned robotaxi service in Los Angeles in 2026.
The ID.Buzz AD is based on the company’s seven-seat model, and the carmaker plans to grant full certification for it to operate driverless in Europe and the U.S.
