According to the company’s intention to maintain historically significant nameplates, the Volkswagen Golf and Golf GTI are expected to continue into a ninth generation, although with electric power.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer told our sister newspaper Autocar UK that the company will not be retiring the GTI nameplate and that the vehicle might be added to a new hot ID lineup, following the regular Volkswagen Golf. Around 2027–2028, the eighth-generation Golf is scheduled to be retired.
The ID naming system, according to Schäfer, is here to stay because purchasers are already familiar with it and link it with electric Volkswagens. But enduring brands like the Golf and even the GTI are vying to live on into the EV future.
“There is a connection between VW and ID; thus, [ID] does not need to be cancelled. Golf and GTI are two of our well-known brand names. To let them perish and disappear would be insane. Although famous models will have names, we’ll keep with the ID rationale.
His remarks address a nagging concern within Volkswagen: will the Golf and the ID 3 merge into one model in the future lineup of electric cars, and if so, how much room would there be for both? The Golf would eventually fall between ID 2 and ID 3.
Schäfer also hinted that the GTX badge, used for the ID cars’ all-wheel-drive performance versions, would not be used by the brand in the long run and that GTI and R would reappear as the range’s preeminent performance badges.
Schäfer emphasised that GTI and Golf were always legendary. We’ll keep going. It must have substance and be effective. To move GTI forward, we are developing a performance model using EV.
For all-wheel-drive performance flagship cars, Schäfer stated the R label would endure. According to this, GTI might be used for high-performance two-wheel-drive EVs and R for four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Volkswagen Golf, ID range for India
The German manufacturer repeatedly tested prior Golf generations in India, but the Golf was never put on sale in this country. VW will release the ID.4 in India sometime in the upcoming year.