VW walked into China’s already crowded EV showroom and dropped a wedge.
It’s the ID. Unyx 07. An angular liftback born from the Volkswagen Anhui joint venture. And here is the twist that makes German product planners sweat a little. It runs on tech co-developed with Xpeng.
This isn’t the car for you. Yet. It measures 4,853mm long with a wheelbase stretching to 2,826mm. That’s longer than a Tesla Model 3 by a hair and significantly longer than the American Jetta. More importantly, that long wheelbase buys interior room. Comfort.
A familiar stranger
It doesn’t wear the face of the larger ID. Unyx 08.
Instead, it borrows the lower, sleeker vibe of the ID. Unyx 06. The Cupra Tavascan’s Chinese cousin, if you will. The nose is aggressive. Sharp headlights. Sporty intakes. A chin spoiler that looks ready for a track day but will probably spend its life in city traffic. The side profile leans into fastback geometry, sharp creases, and a hood that refuses to look long.
At the back? A hatch offering 711 liters of cargo. Not a trunk. A liftback. Practical, but stylishly so.
“Consolidating functions cuts electronic modules by roughly 30%.”
The headline isn’t the horsepower. It’s the architecture.
VW paired up with XPeng to build the China Electronic Architecture (CEA). By grouping controls into four main zones, they slashed the number of modules. Fewer parts. Less wiring. Fewer headaches? Maybe.
The car itself sits on the MEB platform. A single rear motor pushes out 228 hp. A 60kWh battery grants a CLTC range of 545 miles. Wait, that’s not right. 347 miles. Close enough for government work, perhaps. But the real magic happens on the silicon.
Inside, there is no hiding from screens. A 15-inch touchscreen dominates the center. Flanked by a 10.25-cluster for the driver. And a 12-inch panel for the passenger. Who needs eye contact? All topped with a 27-inch AR head-up display. A MediaTek chip drives it. An AI assistant listens.
It feels modern. Aggressively so. A new two-spoke steering wheel. Ambient light spilling onto the doors. A panoramic roof you can actually close with a sunshade. Standard fare for this segment in China, where features are currency.
Every trim gets NOA, XPeng’s navigation-assist ADAS system. It’s not just a checkbox. It’s sophisticated. Alongside a 12-speaker stereo, fragrance emitters, and seats that adjust in 12 ways. Do we really need fragrance in a car? The Chinese market says yes.
Price of admission
The math is stark.
The sticker starts at 129,9en yuan. That’s roughly $19,000. The higher trim? 139,000 yuan, or about $20,500.
But launch specials bring that down to 109,9en yuan. $16,200.
That price point shreds the competition. The BYD Seal 06, XPeng’s Mona M03, even the Geely Galaxy E8 all have to watch their backs. Tesla’s Model 3 looks suddenly expensive.
The ID. Unyx 07 is already on order. Available today in China.
The West gets none of this. Not now. Not for a long time. While America waits for the next EV refresh, China is already rewriting the rules of value, engineering, and who exactly is in the driver’s seat when it comes to software.
We’re watching.
