Volkswagen AG is setting a high bar for the first electric vehicle it will build around the globe.

The carmaker will aim to pick off buyers of some of the industry’s best-selling SUVs with the compact ID.4 crossover that debuted Wednesday, said Scott Keogh, chief executive officer of VW’s U.S. unit. He told reporters it will compete with the likes of Toyota’s RAV4, Honda’s CR-V and Subaru’s Forester.

"The battleground is not 'how can I continuously turn over a couple-hundred thousand people,'” Keogh said during a virtual briefing. "The trick is how do I draw the 4 million people that are buying cars every year.”