Next-Gen Volkswagen Golf, Golf GTI to be Fully Electric
Up until recently, the fate of the Volkswagen Golf was pretty much up in the air, but new comments by the German automaker’s top boss help paint a clearer picture.
In an interview with Autocar during a visit at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Thomas Schafer assured the Golf will live on past the current, eighth generation. And it will be electric.
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“We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to let them die and slip away,” he said. “We will stick with the ID logic but iconic models will carry a name.”
Referring to the ID. Buzz, a modern and fully electric interpretation of the famous Volkswagen Bus, Schafer opened the door to future ID. Golf and ID. Golf GTI models, though he stopped short of confirming those names.
Due by the end of the decade, possibly around 2028, the zero-emission Golf (an entirely different car from the late e-Golf) would slot just below the Volkswagen ID.3, which is currently sold in Europe but not here. It wouldn’t replace it, mind you. Volkswagen’s head honcho insists there is room for both in the brand’s portfolio despite their similar shape and size.
Other than the name, the company will need to preserve the character and dynamic attributes that have made the Golf so popular over the past four decades and counting (it led European car sales in 34 of the past 39 years). On that note, Autocar pointed out the future ID. Golf and ID. Golf GTI will likely be built on the new SSP platform, which is set to replace the existing MEB architecture in the coming years.
And what about the Golf R? Shafer made no mention of it this time. However, earlier this month, Volkswagen R boss Reinhold Ivenz made it clear that all R models in the future will be fully electric.
