Volkswagen Golf EV development paused following multiple delays
Development of the upcoming Volkswagen ID. Golf has come to a halt, as the brand grapples with financial losses.
Volkswagen has reportedly told its workforce that it is pressing pause on the development of the electric ID. Golf, marking the latest setback for the battery-powered hatchback
As reported by German outlet Norddeutscher Rundfunk, an internal interview shared within Volkswagen’s intranet announced the update, with brand CEO Thomas Schäfer saying it’s not delayed just yet.
"We simply can't afford this work right now," Schäfer reportedly said in the interview.
"We can't spend money we haven't earned. We're pausing, not cutting."
According to the publication, the pause in development centres around recent financial losses for the wider Volkswagen Group, which last week announced a quarterly operating loss of €5.9 billion (AU$9.4 billion).
The core Volkswagen brand is slightly less affected, recording a €182 million (AU$289.7 million) quarterly loss, its first time in the negative since 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the automotive industry.
Schäfer’s comments suggest raise questions about whether the ID. Golf will move from its most recent official timeline of launching in 2029, announced earlier this year after it was delayed to 2028 a couple of years ago from its initial 2027 target.
Norddeutscher Rundfunk’s report claims Volkswagen had just a few months ago sent a memo to workers with a launch of prior to 2030, while its messaging has now been revised to “the early 2030s”.
Another memo reportedly reads: "The pause doesn't mean that the ID. Golf will actually launch late; time can be made up.”
Previous reports indicated the push backs in the timeline were centred around the upcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) 800-volt architecture which will underpin the Golf and other Volkswagen Group models.
In May, Schäfer said SSP would become a premium-first platform, before trickling down to more affordable models.
“SSP, we will roll it out across the [VW Group] brands. We will start with the premium brands first… It will start with Audi, then Porsche, then us [VW] and on and on,” Schäfer added.
Jordan Mulach
“It sounds like we take so long, but for us we are looking at scale and you have to have scale in this game or you’ll never make margin parity.”
The Golf will also continue to be sold with petrol engines and plug-in hybrid power in certain markets, however the new-generation model will be exclusively battery powered and likely adopt the ID Golf name, representing the biggest shift for the nameplate since its introduction in 1974.
Volkswagen provided the first teaser of what the Mk9 Golf will look like earlier this year to members of Germany’s IG Metall union, with head of technical design, Kai Grünitz, recently saying its shape will hark back to the Mk4 Golf.
“It’s reminiscent of the Golf Mk4, which was a big step forward,” Grünitz told Motor1 Spain.
Jordan Mulach
“But it’s a modern-looking vehicle, a timeless-looking vehicle. I think you’re going to love it.
“From a design standpoint, our new electric Golf is already 96 - 97 percent done. We started with a proportions model with Andy [Mindt, Volkswagen Group head of design]. And it was already so good that Thomas Schäfer and I joined in and said, ‘Hey, don’t touch anything’.”
It’s expected that the Golf GTI will continue on the MQB Evo platform that it’s currently based on, though the Golf R is understood to be exclusively based on the SSP EV architecture.
