Long uncertain, the future of the Golf seems to be taking shape over the statements of boss Thomas Schafer. The latest comments say more about the size and internal turnarounds.
- Francois Lemaur
Change the content…or the container? At the beginning of the electric transition, this is the question that manufacturers often face. And if Renault has chosen to keep the names (Scénic, Mégane, Espace…) while changing the silhouettes, Volkswagen seems to hesitate. Thus its first exclusive electric is called ID.3. A short surname, quite telling and which comes in as many times as necessary, the ID.4, ID.5 and ID.6 (China) already being proof of this. On the other hand, the Golf has not said its last word. As he had already hinted in a previous statement, Thomas Schafer once again spoke out in favor of the survival of the most famous of Volkswagen names.. Like Luca De Meo at Renault, who firmly believes in the importance of approaching an uncertain period with reassuring names, the VW boss wants to be clear: “ The name Golf has tremendous value. People fully understand what we are talking about when it is mentioned. So changing the name to something completely different doesn’t make sense”.
An ID.Life redesigned as ID.Golf?
At the same time, the Golf 8 is probably the last generation to live on connecting rods and pistons. Without departing from the two letters that embody electric at Volkswagen, the Golf 9 could therefore be called ID.Golf. A nomenclature close to the other electrics of the house but which does not however say anything about the look that this ninth generation will adopt. If the ID.Life concept presented at the 2020 Munich Motor Show was a “zero emission” city car, it would seem that VW is currently reviewing its copy after the mixed success encountered by this study.
It could finally be that this Golf of a new kind, expected around 4.25m long, roughly the size of a current Golf, resembles the Cupra Urban Rebel concept with lines closer to the compact than to the urban crossover. The two production versions, built on the MEB Plus platform, would also be manufactured in the Spanish factory in Martorell where VW Up and Seat Mii are today assembled. Another rumour, the full return of the “GTi” badge, which would thus replace the GTX inaugurated by the ID.4 and ID.5. Expected for 2025, the replacement for the Golf 8 is also intended to be affordable. More precisely around 20,000 €, although it will rather be necessary to count on 25,000 € due to the increase in the average price of batteries in recent times.
Read also: our test of the latest thermal Golf GTi
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