Snapshot
- The VW boss backed the iconic Golf nameplate.
- Retains the ID. Badge as symbol of VW electric cars
- The Mk9 Golf will have an EV option, but the ID.3 will continue to be sold.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaeffer has confirmed that the ninth-generation Golf hatchback will be offered with a fully electric variant, but it will not replace the current ID.3 EV.
Instead, Shafer suggests the iconic 48-year-old Golf nameplate could merge with the existing lineup of dedicated IDs. Branded electric vehicles at the end of the decade – possibly the ID.Golf?
“There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel it. [ID.]Shaffer said Auto car.
“We have popular brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to see them die and slide. We’ll stay with the ID. Logic but popular models will have one name.
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2020 Volkswagen Golf GTE
“The ID.3 was never a successor to the Golf, it’s more of a Golf Plus.”
This despite the automaker’s statement that the ID.3 is the third-generation Volkswagen product after the Beetle and Golf when it first debuted globally in 2019.
While the current Mk8 Golf will be retired by 2028, the all-new Mk9 Golf will still offer combustion and electric powertrains, and will sit below the ID.3 – which will be in its second generation form by then.
The German automaker is set to debut its Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) from 2026, which will underpin most of the group’s new vehicles and the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) currently used in the Mk8 Golf. and will succeed the Modular Electric Tool Kit (MEB) platforms. and similarly sized ID.3 respectively.
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Volkswagen ID.3
Despite the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5 mid-size SUVs and the ID.3 small hatchback, the ID.Buzz retro van and ID.Aero concept car sedan suggest the lineup won’t be limited to numerical names.
It looks like the ‘ID.Golf’ will be the same styling for the Mk7 and Mk7.5 small car, which was offered in a purely electric version called the e-Golf overseas. It was sold between 2015 and 2020 and featured the same design as the standard petrol-powered Golf, more aerodynamic wheels, a tweaked front bumper and blue lines extending from the headlights.
The ID.4 and ID.5 are due to land in Australia from late 2023, while new mid-life versions of the ID.3 are expected in 2024. The group’s first MEB-based small hatch to lob domestically early next year.