In Wolfsburg they want to have recognized the signs of the times – and iron out mistakes of the last few years in the new models and model revisions that are now coming up. In addition, established model names such as Golf or Tiguan could still have a future in the electric age. However, the future of the Spanish brand Seat remains less clear.
The Volkswagen Group and especially the volume brand VW are preparing to regain lost ground in various markets. Particularly important are China, where the group still sells four out of ten vehicles, and of course Western Europe, with its home market of Germany at the top. As always, the brands have different tasks, although there are shifts, especially in the Spanish branches comes. While Cupra, as a Mediterranean-sporty brand, is obviously very successfully closing a gap in its offering, the future of Seat is officially still open. However, the fact that there are at least simulation games in place to position this brand only as the umbrella of the Spanish sub-organization, as a provider of micro-mobility and mobility service provider, is at least not completely indignantly denied within the group. When will cheaper electric cars come? Things will be particularly exciting in the next few years in the area of electromobility. The group will finally bring affordable electric vehicles onto the market from 2025, initially the ID.2 with a front engine and front drive for less than 25,000 euros, and later probably an ID.1 with a target price of 20,000 euros. Both gross prices are not easy to achieve for a company with known high costs. An ID.2 would mean a drop of 15,000 euros compared to the currently cheapest ID.3. “We will definitely be able to maintain the price until 2025,” says a company spokesman with certainty, thereby also rejecting skeptics who expect price increases until the market launch. There will also be a slightly SUV-style version of the ID.2 , which will be called ID.2 X. There will also be a Skoda of this model, while Cupra will bring a version of the normal ID.2 under the name Raval. All models are built in Spain. The fact that there is no indication of Seat’s own version supports the rumors about the future of this brand. However, it is not yet clear where an ID.1 will be produced. What is clear is that the car will be manufactured in Europe and is only intended for European markets. The market launch for the successor to the E-Up could be 2026. More than a facelift for ID.4 and ID.5, however, Volkswagen still has a lot of other work to do by then. A revised ID.4 and then the ID.5 coupé version will come onto the market in 2025. The Wolfsburg-based company goes well beyond a normal facelift. This means that no sheet metal part of the exterior will remain untouched and the interior will also be completely new, for example with a display running from A-pillar to A-pillar. In terms of technology and drive, however, everything remains the same. Volkswagen has also discovered a gap in the model range. Similar to Skoda’s Enyaq, the Wolfsburg-based company is bringing a version of the ID.4 that has been shortened by around 20 centimeters. The electric SUV built in Wolfsburg is likely to arrive in early 2026 and will be slightly beefier than its larger sister model. The revisions to ID.4/ID.5 in particular are an indication that Volkswagen wants to clear up some of the mistakes of the recent past. “Especially in terms of design, with the move away from horizontal orientation and the sometimes complicated operation, we had left the core of the brand,” said the VW spokesman. “This is now being corrected.” Model names are being put to the test. The model names could also be corrected over the next few years. When combustion engines finally retire in the early 1930s, established names such as Golf, Tiguan and Polo would theoretically be available again for electric cars. E-Golf instead of ID.3: Some people in the company probably don’t find this unthinkable. The ID.GTI Concept shown at the IAA already showed that VW is not afraid of transferring an abbreviation that was previously reserved for the sporty combustion engine world into the electric age. This would have to apply even more to successful model names that have been introduced over decades. ID.7 is coming at the end of the year. In any case, there will still be a few more years in the car world before that happens. The present has other tasks in store, such as the introduction of the ID.7 electric car with a standard range of around 700 kilometers, which is planned for December in Austria at a base price of just under 60,000 euros. Initially the large sedan will only come with rear-wheel drive, followed next spring by the sporty GTX version with all-wheel drive and 250 kW/340 hp as well as a slightly weaker all-wheel drive version with 220 kW/300 hp. The station wagon variant is also coming. At Volkswagen, however, the Trinity project, which was initially announced for 2026/2027, has been postponed. Delays with the software architecture have led to a rethink within the group. First of all, the modular electrical construction kit (MEB) is now being brought up to date. Only then, around 18 months later than initially planned, i.e. 2027/2028, will the new models switch to Trinity. Volkswagen’s first vehicle will be a so-called mid-range CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle), a concept that can best be described as a softened SUV and is similar to Tesla’s Model Y. 800 volts and Level 4 This first model, perhaps under the name ID .6 running, would then be the pioneer of a new generation of electric cars from the group with 800-volt technology, outputs of up to 1000 hp (e.g. for Porsche) and ready for autonomous driving at level 4. The platform will then be used by can (must) be used by all brands and models of the group. The flatter batteries used on the Trinity platform, for example, also allow for flatter vehicles, which would allow Volkswagen to produce an E-Golf GTI with correspondingly sporty proportions. Such a vehicle with a length of around 4.25 meters would finally fulfill the promise that an electric vehicle with a compact length offers the space of a Passat. Passat, Tiguan, Golf The next thing is also happening in the VW combustion engine world Years still a lot. The new Passat, only available as a station wagon, has grown to almost 5 meters and is built together with the Skoda Superb Combi in Bratislava, and will be produced until around 2033. There is also a new, third generation of the Tiguan SUV bestseller, which is also based on the new MQB evo modular transverse matrix. The Golf will have a comprehensive facelift next year; the compact car will have a larger screen, softer plastics and all the drives from the Tiguan/Passat. The frequently criticized operating concept has been modernized in line with the ID.7 and Passat/Tiguan. The last combustion engine is…The last completely new combustion engine model will be the VW T-Roc in 2025. After that, the vehicles from the old world only undergo revisions and modernizations. There will no longer be a new MQB. However, some models will be phased out sooner, not least because the upcoming change in emissions standards to Euro 7 is not worth it. The large Touareg would come to an end at the end of 2026 and the Arteon, which is only available as a station wagon anyway, would then be removed from the model range. (SPX)
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