Volkswagen brand boss Thomas Schäfer has said that the Golf name might be revived as an all-electric ID model once the combustion-engined cars that bear the name cease production.
Speaking to Auto Express at the LA Auto Show, Schäfer said that both the ID. and Golf names would continue. “Both have a reason to stay,” he said. “ID. is already a really well-known logo for electrification. We created it and without explanation the connection of Volkswagen and ID works – there’s no need to cancel it or redo it.
“Secondly, we have iconic brand names like Golf and GTI. You’d be crazy to let them die. Are all the names iconic? No.
“At the moment we’re working out our future line-up and naming logic. We will probably stick with the ID. logic, but at the same time iconic models will also carry their name, like we have with the ID. Buzz – it works.”
Asked whether Volkswagen would have an ID. Golf, Schäfer replied, “We might.”
However, continuing with the Polo name had not yet been decided. “It’s pretty iconic,” said Schäfer, “But is it iconic enough to carry on? That’s not clear yet. Golf is definitely one we’ll keep – there’s no way we’d let that go.”
The GTI badge is similarly important to Volkswagen and Schäfer revealed that the GTI name will be heading into electrification, possibly at the expense of the new GTX badge. “The discussion we’re having now is to get the electric vehicles into performance and then carry the GTI name forward,” he said.
“GTX was an idea on the way to electrification, we came up with a different name. In future whether we’ll need this or not, we’ll see. But GTI is so strong.”
Any ID Golf model is likely to sit on the Volkswagen Group’s new SSP scalable, all-electric architecture, although the first model, codenamed Trinity, has been put back two years. “We’ll see it probably 2028 or 29,” said Schäfer.
However, Schäfer did confirm that the new small all-electric Volkswagen was on track to be the new entry point to the EV range with work continuing to bring an even smaller car to market with a lower price point. “The smallest one is our ID.2 that we’re coming with,” he confirmed, “And that will be well below €25,000.
“Is that the end point? No, it can’t be. The reality is that we need to get something below the €20,000 mark – that’s not confirmed yet. We’ve confirmed the ID.2 and the line-up beyond that, but the teams now working on ideas how we get below 20 – we haven’t found the solution yet, but I personally think it can be done although you have to talk about range and what’s really necessary in such a vehicle. Battery cost is, at the moment, the deciding factor.”
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