Volkswagen Tells Dealers To Wrap Plain ID Buzz Vans Into Two-Tone Colors To Increase Sales

Now that the Volkswagen ID Buzz is finally on sale in the U.S., the reality of selling a $70,000 electric minivan in a country where the President is threatening to send the global economy into a recession resulted in lackluster sales. Volkswagen only sold 1,901 ID Buzzes in the first quarter of 2025. To make matters worse, Volkswagen was forced to produce mostly monotone black, white, and silver Buzzes due to production restrictions. In its signature two-tone paint scheme, the Buzz is instantly recognizable as the modernized version of the OG hippie van but when the entire van is painted a single boring shade of black, white, or silver, the nostalgia factor, arguably the Buzz's main selling point, is nullified. Now though, Volkswagen is offering its dealers an incentive to wrap those boring, harder-to-sell monochrome Buzzes and transform them into nostalgic and desirable two-tone vans while boosting sales numbers.

Early buying trends on the West Coast show that ID Buzz buyers in the U.S. prefer the two-tone paint scheme, but of all the Buzzes shipped over from the manufacturing plant in Hanover, Germany, a large portion were single-color paint jobs in black, white, and silver. To change that, dealers can front the money to have a two-tone wrap installed on those monochrome Buzzes, and Volkswagen will reimburse part of the cost thanks to a partnership with Wrapmate. The plan is to charge Buzz buyers an additional $3,000 for the two-tone wrap, and the dealers can apply for a $1,500 rebate from Volkswagen to split the cost. Automotive News spoke to Volkswagen's senior VP of sales for the U.S. Hein Schafer and said,

"The single-tone vehicle doesn't sell as quick as the two-tone car.... As soon as the dealers dress them up and wrap them, we see them moving again."

Since the Volkswagen ID Buzz is manufactured in Germany, it's possible that the van's already high prices may become even higher. So far, the EV-loving state of California has been a hotbed for Buzz buyers, and Schafer told Automotive News that Volkswagen has only gotten California dealerships properly stocked over the past couple of months.

The ID Buzz is a brilliant vehicle that brings with it a hefty price tag, but also a hefty helping of nostalgia, whimsy, and romance. I lived with a two-tone green-and-white ID Buzz for a week not long ago. The review is underway, and I can attest to its nostalgia factor. Everywhere I drove the thing, I knew I'd get waved down at a stop light to talk about it, and I knew wherever I parked it I was likely to return to it to find someone taking photos of it. A massive part of its appeal lies in its looks, and it pretty much needs to be two-tone to fulfill its retro fantasy.