Replacing Herbert Diess at the helm of the Volkswagen Group, newly appointed chairman Oliver Blume addressed the 2022 Extraordinary General Meeting. The 54-year-old executive who has retained his role as CEO of Porsche spoke briefly about how the giant automaker is preparing. for the future. One strategy refers to adopting a “clear design language” that should better differentiate brands from one another.
At the same time, the VW Group is promising a “quality offensive” given the criticism cars such as the Golf and ID.3 have received due to their plastic interiors. The removal of touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel has been announced. Speaking of gas-engined hatchbacks, it will live in the electric era, along with the Tiguan. Oliver Blume says VW’s core brand is “examining how it can bring icons like the Golf or Tiguan into the electric future.”
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Last month, said VW CEO Thomas Schäfer Die Welt Golf will last for the ninth generation. He hinted it would be an electric model slotted under the ID.3. It could go by the name “ID. Golf” and slot over the upcoming ID.2 city car. Core brand head Honcho also assured fans of the “GTI” ending would also live on in the EV era.
Meanwhile, the Golf Mk8 will receive a mid-cycle facelift in 2023 when VW is also expected to introduce the next-generation Tiguan. The latter will likely be the last iteration of the compact crossover to still offer a combustion engine. VW has promised to build only electric vehicles in Europe from 2033.
While both of these compact cars have been confirmed for life, the future doesn’t look so bright for the smaller Polo. Thomas Schäfer recently said the upcoming Euro 7 regulations would make subcompact cars too expensive, up to €5,000 more than the current supermini. Additional costs will also be caused by more complex safety systems that will be mandatory in the EU.
