The Breakdown:
- Volkswagen’s electric Golf won’t arrive until at least 2030.
- The CEO said, ‘We do not need an electric Golf in 2028’ and that the company is set with its current lineup.
- The ID. Golf will ride on VW Group's SSP architecture, which has faced development delays.
It is time to add Volkswagen to the growing list of automakers delaying the launch of their electric vehicles. The company's CEO has confirmed that the electric Golf won’t arrive until around 2030 at the earliest, two years later than previously expected.
According to Autocar, VW CEO Thomas Schäfer said, “We do not need an electric Golf in 2028. We are well set with what we have in our portfolio with our vehicles." The ID. Golf is expected to ride on VW Group’s upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) architecture, which will launch first underpinning models from Audi and Porsche.
VW Group has faced issues developing the new platform, causing delays. According to Schäfer at FT’s Future of the Car event in London, the automaker is "looking at scale, and you have to have scale in this game, or you’ll never make margin parity."
The ID. Golf will spawn a high-performance GTI variant, which will be a "monster," and Schäfer has already confirmed a Golf R, too. With the ID. Golf delayed by two years, we don’t expect the hotter variants anytime soon.
Motor1’s Take: It’s no surprise that Volkswagen has delayed the electric ID. Golf. The group is facing numerous challenges, including competition in China and tariffs in the United States, and launching an electric version of one of its most iconic nameplates too soon might result in a sales disaster.
Source: Autocar
