[bsa_pro_ad_space id=14]

Volkswagen’s new electric hatchback has arrived in Australia. However, it appears to be an evaluation vehicle ahead of showroom arrivals in 2024.


The vehicle was photographed by an eagle-eyed reader near Volkswagen’s Sydney headquarters.

It appears to have been sourced from Volkswagen New Zealand, given it is wearing NZ registration plates and has the manufacturer’s registration plate frame.



Although the iD.3 was the first modern-era electric car unveiled by Volkswagen globally, the German brand will likely be beaten to the Australian market by the Cupra version of the same car.

The Volkswagen-owned Cupra brand has had four Cupra Born test cars in Australia since late last year.

With the backing of the global boss of Cupra, and the Cupra Born has been fast-tracked for Australia and is due in showrooms early next year – overtaking the VW iD.3 in the process.



The Volkswagen iD.3 is the company’s most affordable new-generation electric car to date.

Pricing for the Volkswagen iD.3 and and the Cupra Born are yet to be announced.

However, Drive understands both brands are targeting a price range of $50,000 to $65,000, undercutting the Tesla Model 3 in the process.



Meantime, Volkswagen is on track to launch the iD.4 and iD.5 mid-size SUV electric cars in Australia in 2023, with the iD.3 to follow some time in 2024.

Joshua Dowling has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years, spending most of that time working for The Sydney Morning Herald (as motoring editor and one of the early members of the Drive team) and News Corp Australia. He joined CarAdvice / Drive in late 2018, and has been a World Car of the Year judge for 10 years.

Read more about Joshua Dowling LinkIcon

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=15]