One of the Volkswagen dealerships in Germany has imported 22 electric vehicles from China in violation of multiple laws, Carscoops reports. The local authorities had cleared them for sale without issues, but the VW HQ sued the dealership demanding it destroy all imported vehicles.
It all started when car dealer Gregory Brudny did the math and concluded that Volkswagen EVs in China cost way less than their counterparts in Germany – enough to justify importing them with customs clearance and all other associated hassle. As economic problems keep worsening in the EU, China is undergoing an opposite process with numerous EV manufacturers competing in an increasingly crowded market.
For perspective, buying a new Volkswagen ID.3 electric hatchback costs a minimum of €40,000 in Germany. In China, what is essentially the same car goes for the equivalent of €16,000. The ID.4 SUV starts from €40,300 domestically, while in China, €33,700 buys you a larger and better equipped ID.6.
What Gregory Brudny did was import 22 VW ID.6 SUVs from China. He was able to clear them at customs and get all the necessary sale approvals. He also went through the pain of rewriting the cars’ firmware and making other adjustments for the German market. However, as soon as he posted the ads for the cars, Volkswagen sued him asking for all imported EVs to be scrapped under an industrial press at the dealer’s own expense.
For its own part, the automaker argues that vehicles produced for different regions have numerous region-specific adjustments and quicks, meaning there is no legal way to offer the ID.6 SUVs produced at the FAW-VW joint enterprise in Germany. Brudny – who has already submitted an appeal – says keeping the cars as a deadweight in his warehouse costs his business €8,000 per month, and getting rid of them properly would cost approximately €15,000 per car.
The court has yet to reach a decision.
