Research, buy & sell with confidence
Why not both? The Volkswagen brand CEO says there's room for both an electric Golf and ID.3 in the line-up, and the former could be called ID. Golf.
The ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf will offer an electric powertrain when it arrives around 2027 or 2028, but this doesn’t spell the end of the similarly sized ID.3 EV.
The brand is committing to offering both legacy nameplates like
Golf and its new ID nomenclature, even as it plans to cease European production of combustion-powered vehicles by 2033.
The next Golf could share its new SSP architecture with a next-generation
ID.3.
“There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel [ID],” Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schafer told
Autocar.
“We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to let them die and slip away. We will stick with the ID logic but iconic models will carry a name.”
He suggested an electric Golf could wear the ID. Golf nameplate, arguing the ID. prefix is well-known by buyers and associated with EVs.
He also said the Golf and ID.3 were considered separate cars in size and positioning, and that there was room for both – even if just 22mm separates the current Golf hatch and ID.3 in length.
“The ID 3 has never been a successor to the Golf, it is more a Golf Plus,” Mr Schafer added.
While that may seem like a throwaway remark, Volkswagen has in fact sold a vehicle called the Golf Plus before, a taller Mk5 Golf-based hatchback offered from 2004 to 2014 that slotted in under the Touran compact MPV. It was replaced in 2014 by the Golf Sportsvan, sold until 2020.
It’s unclear how Volkswagen would distinguish an electric Mk9 Golf from its ID.3, though a more practical body for one of them – if perhaps not quite as upright as the defunct Golf Plus – could be one possibility.
Volkswagen has already offered an electric Golf before, during the previous Mk7 generation. Badged the e-Golf, it was sold in markets like North America, China and Europe.
Production ended in late 2020 as Volkswagen completed its transition to the current Mk8.
Mr Schafer’s remarks indicates there’s room in the Volkswagen line-up for familiar nameplates and new ID. models.
The brand is in the midst of rolling out a wide range of ID-badged vehicles, which overlap with current combustion-powered models in size.
It aims to have 10 new models by 2026.
Besides the Golf-sized ID.3, there’s the
Tiguan-sized
ID.4 and the
Multivan-sized
ID. Buzz.
An ID.3-based crossover is coming that will likely be close to the
T-Roc in size, while two entry-level EVs are expected to align with the
Polo and
T-Cross in size.
A new sedan referred to as the
ID. Aero is also coming, though it’s expected to be larger than the defunct
Passat sedan.
Some combustion nameplates may face the axe, with Mr Schafer noting the brand will focus on core models and simplify its product range over the next 10 years. That casts doubt on the future of models like the
Arteon.
By 2030, Volkswagen expects EVs to account for 70 per cent of the brand’s sales in Europe.
While Volkswagen already has several electric vehicles in Europe, none have made the trip to Australia yet. That will change in late 2023 when the ID.4 and ID.5 electric crossovers touch down locally.
The facelifted ID.3, set for a European launch in 2023, is also set to come to Australia.
MORE:
What electric cars does Volkswagen have coming?
MORE:
Everything Volkswagen ID.3
MORE:
Everything Volkswagen Golf
William Stopford is an automotive journalist based in Brisbane, Australia. William is a Business/Journalism graduate from the Queensland University of Technology who loves to travel (remember that?), briefly lived in the US, and has a particular interest in the American car industry.
Research, buy & sell with confidence
Let us know if you think we could be doing something better.
© 2022 CarExpert Pty Ltd – ABN 71 636 729 836