Volkswagen Golf To Dwell On, Ninth Era To Sit Beneath ID.3

In 2021, Volkswagen issued a press launch about its intentions of changing into a “software-driven mobility supplier.” Advertising jargon apart, the announcement additionally included information a couple of ninth-generation Golf coming later this decade. Quick ahead to August 2022, CEO Thomas Schäfer spoke with Die Welt about how rising improvement prices with combustion engines make the hatchback’s future unsure. He added a call would come within the subsequent 12 months.

On the ongoing Los Angeles Auto Present, VW’s prime brass sat down and had a chat with Autocar in regards to the destiny of the long-lasting compact mannequin. To nobody’s shock, the Wolfsburg-based firm is sensible sufficient to maintain the “Golf” identify alive given the heritage behind it, having bought greater than 35 million vehicles because the mid-Seventies.

To that finish, Schäfer mentioned: “We might not let go of the Golf identify, no method. We’ve got iconic model names, Golf and GTI. It could be loopy to allow them to die and slip away.”

One query arises: The place will it slot in VW’s crowded lineup? Because it seems, the ID.3 has by no means been a successor to the Golf. Schäfer described it as being “extra a Golf Plus.” For individuals who are unfamiliar with the latter, it was a compact minivan bought between 2004 and 2014 with a taller roof in comparison with the common hatch. Based mostly on the PQ35 platform, the automotive was positioned under the Touran and was out there in the course of the fifth and sixth generations of the Golf.

Schäfer prompt the next-generation Golf shall be smaller than the ID.3, that means it may be positioned above the ID.2 electrical metropolis automotive however under a next-generation ID.3. As to the way it’ll be known as, the VW CEO indicated it may very well be marketed because the ID. Golf. It is an fascinating determination as most of us thought the ID.3 would finally supersede the Golf altogether as soon as every little thing turns into electrical.

Lest we neglect VW just lately introduced a crossover model of the ID.3, so there shall be fairly a couple of fashions related in measurement. Schäfer mentioned it would look “dramatically totally different” than the hatch, which is getting a mid-cycle facelift in 2023 when a high-performance GTX by-product is slated to return out.