Volkswagen now admits that the German brand is lagging behind its competitors in the automotive industry. Nine new cars will now correct this.
Volkswagen acknowledges that it is lagging behind its competitors in certain areas. After "Dieselgate", the brand has not been able to dominate in Europe as it used to.
Electric cars and competition from Chinese manufacturers have also taken a toll on the leadership in Wolfsburg. And despite some success in countries like Denmark, the general success of the ID. series of the Germans' own electric cars is lacking.
On Wednesday, VW presented a new plan to fix the car brand and its catastrophic debt. The plan is called "Triple A: Accelerate, Attack, and Achieve." The goal is to regain competitiveness within a few years.
But already in November 2023, the managing director said that Volkswagen is no longer a competitive brand.
Volkswagen plans to launch nine new cars by 2027. And although it sounds like a lot, the Germans are not betting everything on electric cars. In fact, only two of them will run on electricity.
The ID.2 will arrive in 2026 and will be complemented by the recently presented ID.1 in 2027. The latter has a price of 'around 20,000 euros', it says. In Denmark, it can be exchanged for a price of 150,000 kroner.
Before these two 'affordable' electric cars hit the market, the first priority is the launch of the second generation T-Roc.
Volkswagen has called this compact crossover its last new car with an internal combustion engine. There are high expectations for this model, as it was almost as popular as the Golf in Europe last year.
In a meeting with employees at the Wolfsburg factory, director Thomas Schäfer assured his employees that the brand and their workplace have a future. This is despite VW wanting to move Golf production to Mexico and lay off 35,000 employees.
The fully electric Golf, on the other hand, will be built in Wolfsburg, on the VW Group's upcoming Scalable Systems platform (SSP).
The ninth generation Golf, developed in collaboration with Rivian, will be all-electric. However, the electric Golf is not expected to hit the market until the end of this decade.
Therefore, the combustion engine is kept alive with the current Golf Mk. 8.
Volkswagen has also confirmed plans for an electric T-Roc. But this model is not just around the corner. Instead, the new models are part of a planned, ongoing expansion of the model range.
Competition in the market is expected to become even fiercer when these new electric cars come to market. It's not just about competition from China. But also from European manufacturers.
Renault has intensified its efforts in electric cars, while Volkswagen will only launch a similar model in 2027. The new Twingo will hit the market about a year before the ID.1, and the French will probably be able to offer the car at the same price.
The new Renault 5 is already on the market. While the ID.2 for 25,000 euros will only come in about a year. Renault is also launching the Renault 4 as an economical electric crossover.
Software problems have plagued the launch of several products in recent years. In fact, VW's focus on in-house software has been such a disaster that it is now ready to scrap the entire Cariad program. Instead, VW is counting on Rivian's help.
It also doesn't make the story of the faulty software any better that German media revealed before New Year's that 800,000 cars were involved in a major data leak. This includes over 35,000 cars in Denmark. Read more about it here .
