Volkswagen has pushed back the launch of the electric Golf that was to arrive in 2028.
The news was confirmed by CEO Thomas Schafer this morning (13 May). “We have a fantastic line-up now that we do not need an electric Golf in 2028. We are well set with what we have in our portfolio with our vehicles,” Schafer told the FT’s Future of the Car event in London.
He did not confirm a new date when the car – expected to take the ID Golf nameplate – would arrive; this was also the first official mention of a 2028 launch, a date Autocar had previously reported.
Volkswagen has and will launch a new range of EVs this year that includes the new ID Polo, updated ID 3 Neo and incoming ID Cross, and Schafer's comments suggest the Golf EV’s delay is partly tactical to allow these new models to breathe before the first electric version of its most popular – and famous – model is launched.
However, another reason, he hinted, was down to a further delay of the SSP platform that will underpin the Golf EV. The new architecture will form the basis of the next-generation of Volkswagen Group vehicles and Group CEO Oliver Blume previously claimed it would bring price parity between ICE and EV models.
The platform, which will also feature 800V electricals, more advanced battery technology and a new software architecture developed in collaboration with Rivian, was originally penciled to arrive this year, but development issues resulted in the platform being pushed back meaning the first vehicles to use it wouldn’t launch until 2028.
Autocar previously reported that the Golf EV was to be one of these cars, however Schafer confirmed the Group will start with vehicles from its premium Audi and Porsche brands.
He said: “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.”
Speaking about why the platform has taken so long to arrive, he explained: “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.”
Schafe added that “increased competition”, especially from new Chinese brands, has forced a rethink of EV pricing meaning the Group had to “redo the maths” regarding costs around the platform in terms of materials and investment.
The news comes just a few months after the first official image of the ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf was released, as well as confirmation that the EV would be built at the car maker’s Wolfsburg factory. Production of the combustion-powered car, which will be heavily updated at the same time the EV arrives, will move to Mexico.
