AUTONEWS

Goodbye VW Golf, welcome ID.Golf: a change of generation...and technology

When a car that is half a century old, like the combustion Golf, starts to become unprofitable and hopes of leading electric mobility fade, the volcano begins to roar and it is time to start looking for the best survival plan. The future involves delaying and rethinking electrification, and the next Golf will mark that new era in 2029.

Martin Sander has been VW's new sales director since July 1, 2024. Since the 2nd of that same month, it was clear to him that more challenges than expected had to be overcome to once again make VW the world leader in production volume and sales. One of them is the loss of penetration of cars like the Golf and other “classics” in markets – mainly European – where it has always been a real best-seller, to which we must add the arrival in Europe of Asian brands, which have recovered the generation and a half disadvantage that European manufacturers had until recently, and the loss of market share in China – a drop of 2 to 1 in relation to the increase in sales. But, above all, it faces an electrification strategy with weaknesses that will require a clean slate.

The Golf 9 will be the first car based on the new SSP electric platform...Already on Martin’s second day at work, the Volkswagen board of directors postponed the launch of almost all models based on the SSP or Scalable Systems Platform, considered the megakit for modular construction in electric vehicles that will cover the different brands of the group. It is an evolution of the current PPE used by Audi and Porsche, and the necessary basis for reconciling highly connected and 100% autonomous electric cars, which is the main foundation of the Trinity Project, initially scheduled for 2026, postponed to 2029 and now definitively postponed to 2032. Before that, there are other needs at VW, and among them is connecting the present and the past: electric cars based on more flexible architectures industrially speaking, promoting software improvements thanks to the support of new partners such as Rivian and Xpeng, and shoring up the ranges using names that resonate strongly, whatever the age of the customer.

It is true that MEB has had certain weaknesses since its origin. But if VW is clear about one thing, it is that the low success of cars such as the ID.3 or ID.4, leaving aside a commercial start with stratospheric prices, does not lie in problems with the architecture, engines, batteries, autonomy or charging power, at a more than competitive level compared to more modern cars, but in the car itself. Making a transfer of power and linking the renewed Golf 8.5 to the range of combustion and plug-in hybrid versions, but based on MEB in the case of the 100% electric version, would be perfectly viable, but for Thomas Schäfer, head of the brand, it would be stumbling over the same stone again: "we want an electric Golf, but it has to be a true Golf in proportions and performance." With these guidelines, it is time to wait to produce it on the new SSP platform, already perfectly tuned.

The definitive farewell to the combustion VW Golf...Take note because critical moments are approaching: 2029 is the date on which the Golf 9 will finally be launched on the market. And yes, it will be 100% electric. This means a fifteen-month delay on the initial plans that, obviously, also drag on the renewal of the ID.4, ID.5 and other models of the group currently based on MEB, which will mutate to SSP. Other models, such as the T-Sport electric SUV, are expected in 2031, three years later than planned. In the meantime, the MEB platform will undergo an evolution in 2026 and will be renamed MEB+, while the PPE will receive an update within three years.

VW wants to offer a vehicle capable of travelling no less than 400 km in real life in its basic version, not according to homologation figures. There will be a transfer of engine and battery technology from the current PPE, especially in terms of charging speed, with a target time of 15 minutes to achieve an 80 percent charge even in its most expensive versions, with ranges that should exceed 600 km.

The GTI is back…and not just in Golf form...The GTI is back – and not just in Golf form Schäfer is also planning to bring back the legendary GTI designation for electric models – but only for true icons of the brand. Of course, an ID.Golf could meet this requirement, provided its performance is at the level of a GTI. At the IAA Mobility, VW presented an ID.GTI concept, which is expected to go into production in 2026.

The basis for VW's first electric GTI will probably be the upcoming ID.2, with an output of over 200 kW and, above all, with handling and driving pleasure that do justice to the sports car concept that has always characterised the GTI. But the Golf GTI should be technically linked to the ninth generation of this model. The GTX, introduced in the ID.4 in 2020, will continue to be linked to MEB-based sports models from the ID.3 to the ID.7.

Reporter: Raul Roncero