Volkswagen boss confirms Golf and GTI badges will live on in electric era

Just days after Volkswagen confirmed a GTI version of the ID.2 small electric hatchback with the ID. GTI concept, the company’s CEO has confirmed that “Golf” is another nameplate that will continue into VW’s electric era – including the possibility of a hot Golf R for 2028.

Thomas Schäfer, speaking at the Munich motor show this week, said that while the ID. range of electric vehicles (EVs) might have led some to think historic nameplates will be killed off, that’s not the case. It’s true that many believed that the introduction of the ID.3 electric hatchback, which is roughly Golf-sized, indicated the end of the road for the legendary model, which was introduced in 1974 and has so far gone through eight generations.

But Schäfer revealed: “The iconic names that it’s definitely decided will be carried into the future are Golf, Tiguan and GTI. That is given. The others, we look at a case-by-case basis, but these three are done.

“We have a renewed Golf next year and then that’ll carry us nicely into a time where we can make the decision whether we bring it straight away or a little bit later. But there will be a Golf and it will be a true Golf in terms of package, driveability.”

Schäfer went on to explain that while the current Golf Mk8 will be updated in 2024, the next all-new iteration of Volkswagen’s long-serving hatchback will be built around new underpinnings called the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP), rather than on the current MEB or MEB+ platforms.

With SSP slated to come in around 2028, according to Schäfer, that raises the intriguing possibility of an electric-powered Golf R high-performance model around the end of the decade — especially if the GTI badge is surviving the company’s electrification process.

“It [Golf R] will probably only be possible with the SSP because with R, you really need to put another level on – to do that with MEB+ would be a stretch,” he told Auto Express.

Future of ID. sub-brand in doubt

Schäfer’s proclamations on the heritage nameplates mean that the ID. sub-brand might itself be under threat as 2030 approaches, rather than long-standing badges such as Golf and Polo.

The CEO admitted that the GTX badge, which was introduced on sporty versions of the electric ID models, is going to be short-lived. “GTX was just an interim for the battery electric one, but we’re probably going to merge that in the long run.”

Some believe that calls into question the overarching ID. nomenclature, too. “It was a name that was necessary [at launch] to differentiate from the internal combustion (ICE) vehicles,” said Schäfer. “We probably don’t need that going into the future, if eventually by 2033 we are done [with ICE]. What’s the point of naming everything double?”

He added that a decision to potentially drop the ID. badging completely was “not 100 per cent clear” and that individual model names, like ID.4, could continue in various forms, due to the global span of the Volkswagen Group.

What it suggests is that the ID.3, which had every appearance of ending the life of the Golf after its current eighth generation, is likely to be itself replaced by an all-electric Golf Mk9 on the new underpinnings in 2028.

“ID.3 will run out by then so there will be a minimal overlap, if at all, and then that’s fine,” said Schäfer.

This decision, coupled with Schäfer’s own admission that other heritage nameplates’ continuation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, could mean that the incoming ID.2 will one day become an electric Polo.

Volkswagen’s new strategy seems to be the antithesis of what major rival Ford has done. The American firm killed off the Polo-rivalling Fiesta in July, and had already called time on the likes of the Focus, S-Max, Galaxy and Mondeo, as part of its push into electric vehicles. However, Ford has also been reinventing some classic badges, such as the Puma and Mustang, as SUVs.

Related articles

• If you found the future of the Golf interesting, you might be interested to read our review of the Volkswagen ID.5 GTX
• Keen to go electric? Here are the top 10 longest-range electric cars
• Take a look at all the car makers’ electric vehicle plans

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