24 September 2026
The ID. Buzz is delayed again
Volkswagen told its dealers today that the electric bus won't return to America this autumn after all. It now comes back as a 2028 model, during next calendar year — a second consecutive delay for a van that has already skipped an entire model year.
What happened
A second year off
Volkswagen skipped the 2026 model year in the United States, citing soft demand and a turbulent EV market, and said at the time the absence was temporary. In December its chief communications officer was explicit that the company was "not canceling the ID. Buzz for the US market."
In May it announced the 2027 lineup — new trims, updated driver assistance, a NACS adapter, and the Tourer camping package that this site is largely about. Dealers were told to expect vans in the autumn.
On 24 September, according to Automotive News, Volkswagen informed dealers that the return slips again: the ID. Buzz comes back as a 2028 model, in the 2027 calendar year. Volkswagen has not publicly given a reason for this particular delay.
Our own note
A dealer told us November or December
On 22 August we asked a representative from a local Volkswagen dealer, at the Pacific Northwest Buzz-In in Bellingham, when they expected inventory. They said they were hearing November or December, and were careful to add that nothing was confirmed.
They were right to hedge. A month later, Volkswagen moved it by a year.
We report that not to embarrass anyone — the rep was straightforward and appropriately cautious — but because it's a useful illustration. If retail staff a month out were working from "November or December," nobody outside Wolfsburg had reliable timing. Treat every date you're quoted on this van accordingly, including the ones in this article.
Why, probably
Six thousand, one hundred and forty
That's how many ID. Buzzes Volkswagen sold in America last year. Against years of accumulated affection for the original bus, it's a small number — and it's the context for everything that has happened since.
The van launched near $60,000 with up to 234 miles of EPA range, into a segment where the Kia EV9 and Hyundai IONIQ 9 offer more space or more range for the money. Inventory backed up. There are reportedly only 38 new 2025 models left in the entire country, which tells you both that the remaining stock has finally cleared and that there was stock to clear for a very long time.
It is also, uncomfortably, the second time this site has written that number down. The other was BrightDrop, which sold 3,976 units before General Motors ended it.
What survives
Is the Tourer still happening?
Unknown, and this is the question that matters most if you're reading this site. The Tourer 4Motion — fold-out mattress, blackout blinds, ventilation panels, and Overnight Mode — was announced for model year 2027. Volkswagen has not said whether it carries into 2028 unchanged, altered, or at all.
What reporting does say is that the 2028 van gains vehicle-to-load capability, updated software, and digital key integration. The V2L addition is genuinely good news and something we'd flagged as missing: it's the feature that lets the van run a fridge or a kettle at a campsite, and the European ID. California Cruise has had it all along. No output figure has been published for the American version.
So the 2028 van may well be a better camper than the 2027 one would have been. It's just a year further away.
If you were waiting
What to actually do
Don't hold a deposit or a plan against a date. This van has now missed two. Anyone telling you a month is guessing, including dealers, and the honest answer is "sometime next year."
The used 2025s are the near-term option, and the inventory situation has flipped — there are reportedly 38 new ones left nationally, so the clearance pricing that made them interesting is largely gone. A used one won't have the Tourer package, Overnight Mode, V2L, or the updated driver assistance.
And if you needed a van this year, you need a different van. Which puts you back among the the same tradeoffs as before — or waiting, again, which is beginning to look like the defining activity of American electric camper ownership.
If you hear something concrete from a dealer, tell us — we'll publish it and credit you.