In an interview with the German publication Automobilwoche, Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer spoke about the future of his company. The discussion mainly concerned the electrification of the vehicle range. As the head of VW noted, the company is close to stopping the creation of new cars with internal combustion engines.
Later this year, Volkswagen intends to launch the next-generation Passat (wagon only) and Tiguan. In 2024 there will be a new Tayron (compact crossover for China), and in 2025 there will be an updated T-Roc. Schaefer says these will be the last next-generation ICE vehicles to be available in the 2030s.
“T-Roc is the last new internal combustion engine car in Europe that we see on the horizon. Of course, other products will get even more upgrades. But there are no plans for completely new cars after that, at least not yet.”
The popular Golf line will no longer see a new generation model with an internal combustion engine. In 2024, it is planned to introduce an updated version of the current model in order to keep the car competitive until the end of the decade. A ninth generation Golf with petrol/diesel engines is not planned. Although VW management does not rule out the possibility of revising plans “if by 2026 or 2027 the world develops completely differently than expected.”
Schaefer also hinted at a possible close withdrawal from production of the Polo model. The fact is that the upcoming Euro 7 emission standards will make a compact car too expensive after the addition of a hybrid powertrain. He said that in the end, such a car would cost about the same as the 2025 ID.2all (target price is less than €25,000). So it would hardly make sense to sell a subcompact hatchback with an internal combustion engine at that price.
In 2026, a compact electric crossover is expected, which may be called the ID.Tiguan. The company intends to keep well-known names in the era of electric vehicles, so that the Golf and Tiguan models will not disappear with the end of the ICE era. Although Schaefer said the company has no plans to release an electric Golf on the MEB/MEB+ platform. The electric version of the popular hatchback will only appear on the basis of the future SSP architecture, that is, after 2028.
VW intends to switch to selling only electric vehicles in Europe from 2033 – 2 years before the ban on sales of ICE cars comes into force in the EU.
Source: engine1
