Strong indication from Wolfsburg that there could be an electrifying hot hatch in the works.
German automotive conglomerate Volkswagen, fresh off its Dieselgate settlement, is now charging head-first into zero-emissions mobility with discussions strife regarding the its ID electric vehicle family, and the possibility of some of those EVs wearing a GTi badge.
Volkswagen has been very busy, especially with ID. At the 2016 Paris Motor Show, they unveiled the ID hatchback concept, which is slated for 2020 production. And then at Detroit last week, they brought out the ID Buzz MPV concept, to showcase the flexibility of the MEB platform (and the possible revival of the long-gone but dearly-missed Microbus). But no Volkswagen product family would be complete without a performance variant of some kind, and this is where the legendary ‘Grand Touring Injection’ badge comes into play.
At the Detroit Motor Show, the sales & marketing head of VW Jürgen Stackmann said to AutoExpress that, “I think the formula of GTI will change. It will not be the same formula that took us here. But to have an exhilarating, fun to own, fun to drive car. With electric cars, it is possible to deliver that.”
At a separate event, Volkswagen’s vice president of Product Line G4 (e-mobility) Christian Senger, hinted at the likelihood of performance EVs in the future. “Today, we are really successful in having a range of performance, especially at Volkswagen. We need to recreate this with e-mobility,” he said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “We can start with a rational approach,” he continued, “with the car performing well every day. But then, we can scale up: Moe range, more acceleration, more charging points for the money… maybe also four-wheel drive.”
This move to bring a GTI-variant into the ID electric family could serve another purpose too: Volkswagen joins a great number of manufacturers heading bullishly into the world of ‘new propulsion,’ which then brings up the issue of retaining brand identity and distinction. A historically-significant GTI badge on the back of a new-age EV could be one of many things the company is doing to preserve its heritage.
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