Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer stated in an interview that the Golf lineup and the GTI will continue to exist once the internal combustion engine (ICE) era is over. This suggests that future iterations will be electric.
He claims that the ID lineup – VW’s electric car series – will continue to exist because it is a well-known nameplate, and that the ID.3 was never intended to be a replacement for the ICE Golf. This means that the Golf name and the ID will coexist. The company feels that the market is big enough to accommodate both the ID and the Golf.
“There is a connection with VW and ID, and there is no need to cancel [ID],” he told Autocar at the LA motor show. “We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI. It would be crazy to let them die and slip away. We will stick with the ID logic but iconic models will carry a name.”
Furthermore, because the ID naming technique does not require a numeric indication, we may encounter an ID Golf just like we have the ID Buzz. In terms of the GTI name, it will remain a recognised branding for Volkswagen’s performance automobiles. The R badge, which denotes performance and all-wheel drive flagship versions, will continue existing as well. As a result, the GTI and R nameplates will be carried over to the ID series.