Modern Stromers like the recently unveiled ID. 2all are becoming increasingly important for the core label Volkswagen passenger cars. But the Wolfsburg-based company is still earning the big money with their classic combustion engines.
Among the latter, the Golf has always played a key role. Now, however, the increasingly fierce competition causes the VW superiors to examine an early facelift of their compact.
Business Insider asked around among the VW executives – and now also knows the specific timetable for the next Tiguan and Passat, the ID.7 e-sedan and two GTX sports models.
Volkswagen Passenger Cars is considering starting the extensive model update for its compact Golf 8 car earlier than initially planned. The background is the hope for an accelerated sales revival of the company’s long-standing bestseller. Business Insider learned this from executives at the Wolfsburg automaker.
The parent company VW presented the 2022 annual report in Berlin on Tuesday. On Wednesday, its main brand Volkswagen Passenger Cars presented its figures – and presented in Hamburg the concept of an entry-level electric car for less than 25,000 euros in the Polo class from 2025, the ID. 2all. On the fringes of the event, the editors were able to verify their information in confidential discussions with VW decision-makers.
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Ein Display im XL-Format
Accordingly, VW passenger cars had originally planned to unveil the major product upgrade (GPA) for the eighth generation of the Golf, which was presented in October 2019, in calendar week 4 or 5 of the next year. The team led by brand boss Thomas Schäfer is now intensively discussing options for bringing forward the comprehensive upgrade of the Golf 8 to the end of 2023.
A key advantage of the heavily modified five-seater will be the introduction of a 15-inch central screen. The popular Model 3 from the American VW challenger Tesla has long had a screen of this lavish dimension. With a view to younger target groups, Schäfer is pushing for a broad spectrum of new impetus when it comes to digitality and connectivity in future VW vehicles.
Among other things, fabric-covered door panels should give the interior of the modified Golf 8 a noticeably higher quality. Optimized seats, for example, are planned for greater driving comfort.
Externally, the GPA Golf will be recognizable by the new graphics of its rear lights and by a literally lifted front end: “The current Golf 8 looks like a tapir,” a VW manager compares the four-door compact car from Germany with the squat tropical mammal the order of odd-toed ungulates. With all sorts of design tricks, the “face” of the Golf will therefore be pulled upwards in the future.
Revival for the plug-in golf
VW is also going full steam ahead in terms of engine. The plug-in hybrid version, which has not been available for order for the Golf for some time, will be available again as part of the facelift. According to insiders, the all-electric range of this Golf with the “power of two hearts” increases to well over 100 kilometers. “It will then be ‘best in class’,” says a VW technology expert. The performance of the Golf GTE increases to 200 kW, i.e. the equivalent of 272 hp.
VW has not yet set the prices for the facelifted Golf. The basic version is currently available from 31,145 euros.
After the presentation of his electric concept car ID. 2all wants VW passenger cars to come onto the market with production versions of important models in the near future. The ID.7 sedan positioned in the Passat class will be presented on Monday, April 17th. After the ID.4, VW’s second world car with a purely electric drive is intended to appeal to buyers in Europe, America and China. That’s why VW cars are rolling the ID.7 into the limelight on the said day at similar events in Berlin, London, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam, New York City and Shanghai.
In calendar week 35, i.e. at the end of August, the brand is showing its ninth generation Passat. The middle-class car, which was then only available as a station wagon (trade name: Variant; current basic price: 38,850 euros), was again developed together with the Superb from the Czech VW sister label Škoda. Its particularly spacious series – unlike VW also available again as a sedan – is reported to be shown in calendar week 45, i.e. at the beginning of November. Three weeks earlier, in mid-October, Škoda is to present a new edition of its large SUV, the Kodiaq.
At the IAA Mobility trade fair (September 5 to 10), VW Passenger Cars is presenting two decidedly sporty versions of its rapidly growing Stromer family – the ID.3 GTX and the ID.7 GTX. For classification: The “normal” ID.3 currently starts at 43,955 euros (minus state subsidies). The company is also using the show in Munich to present the new generation of its compact SUV Tiguan, albeit with a light camouflage cover on Bavarian soil.
signal to employees
The future Tiguan (current base price: 32,930 euros) will then finally let the covers fall in calendar week 38: At the works meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 19, at the Wolfsburg headquarters in Lower Saxony, it will be the employees who will be able to drive the vehicle before the for “This is a clear appreciation of our employees at the site,” says a VW executive in an interview with Business Insider. “And it should be a celebration for the head of the works council, Daniela Cavallo, who will certainly be able to explain this honor to the workforce in detail”.