Wolfsburg – at today’s works meeting in Wolfsburg, Thomas Schäfer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, presented plans for the future of the core brand. Employees also had a first glimpse of the design of the Volkswagen brand’s future entry-level electric model at a price of about €20,000. “With the results of the negotiations in December, we have embarked on the largest future plan in the history of Volkswagen. We are now following an ambitious course with a view to ensuring that we reach the targets we have jointly agreed. This will be a key step in making electro-mobility attractive for everyone – the clear goal of our brand,” said Schäfer. At the same time, the Volkswagen brand CEO emphasized that Wolfsburg would remain the center for innovation and production competence. He said that the main plant would set new standards in automobile production.
First preview of Volkswagen’s new electric entry- level model
Volkswagen plans to present the show car for the new entry-level model to the public at the beginning of March. The world premiere of the production model is scheduled for 2027. With a base price of about €20,000, the new entry-level electric model will be attractive for a wide variety of user groups. Thomas Schäfer:
“An affordable, high-quality, profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe forEurope. This will be the Champions League of automobile manufacturing.”
Low-cost entry-level mobility in the electric era will be one of the cornerstones of the brand’s future plan. Together with the production version of the ID. 2all1, the new electric model is part of the new electric small car family developed under the umbrella of the Brand Group Core within the Volkswagen Group. The model family includes compact all electric vehicles based on the new stage in the evolution of the modular electric drive (MEB) platform. The first new model will be the production version of the ID. 2all show car, which is to reach dealerships in 2026 as Volkswagen’s first all-electric small car – at a base price of less than €25,000.
Volkswagen is already well positioned in the field of all-electric battery electric vehicles (BEV). Since the launch of the ID. product family in 2019, the brand has sold a total of more than 1.35 million ID. vehicles throughout the world, including about 500,000 ID.3. Last year, the Volkswagen brand sold 383,100 all-electric vehicles.
Clear perspective for the Wolfsburg plant
At the works meeting, brand CEO Thomas Schäfer emphasized that the Wolfsburg plant would remain the heart of the Volkswagen brand in the electric age.
“The Wolfsburg plant has a clear perspective for the future. The agreed relocation of the Golf to Mexico will free up space for advanced technologies. In Hall 54, new production procedures will be introduced. We intend to produce the electric Golf successor on the new SSP platform there, as well as the high-volume electric T-Roc. This way, we will be making Wolfsburg the capital of our new all-electric compact class.”
The Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) will represent the next generation of an all-electric, fully digitalized, highly scalable mechatronics platform based on a uniform system architecture.
Cavallo, Chairperson of the General and Group Works Council of Volkswagen AG, emphasized:
“As the heart of the Group, Wolfsburg will face crucial tasks which we intend to tackle with determination. Technical Development will be performing pioneering work for all the other passenger car brands with the SSP platform, which will be used throughout the Group. This lever will be just as important for our future success as our platform strategy for our current ICE models. At our main plant, we will not only be working on development but also producing strongly over the next few years. The future electric flagships – the Golf and the T-Roc produced in Wolfsburg – currently represent a volume in excess of 500,000 units per year. The main plant has therefore secured a highly attractive vehicle segment and will be continuing the tradition of the Golf from Wolfsburg, which has a history of more than 50 years. It will now be crucial to work consistently on the preparations required for success in the years to come. The Board of Management will need to deliver and to set a new course in terms of complexity, work procedures and synergy effects. The Works Council and top management will cooperate closely on these developments. Our cooperation will include a joint progress meeting every quarter.”
The Volkswagen brand’s “triple A” plan: Accelerate, Attack and Achieve
With the “Zukunft Volkswagen“ (Future Volkswagen) agreement, Volkswagen AG agreed with employee representatives at the end of December 2024 on a vision for the future combining economic stability, employment and technology leadership in the field of sustainable mobility. Binding targets and the measures agreed to reach them lay the foundation for projects in the future. The jointly agreed goal is for the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, as the core of Volkswagen AG, to become the technologically leading volume manufacturer globally by 2030.
For this purpose, Volkswagen has adopted a clear three-stage plan:
- Catch up: competitiveness is to be strengthened by optimizing cost structures and extending the existing model portfolio in a targeted way.
- Attack: There will be nine new models by 2027 including the production version of the ID.2all for less than €25,000 and the entry-level electric car for about €20,000.
- Lead: as the technologically leading brand in the volume segment, Volkswagen is setting new standards and forging ahead with mobility throughout the world.
Highlights
- Catch up, attack and lead: ambitious three-stage plan of the Volkswagen brand up to 2030
- Entry-level electric model marks key step
- Future-proof prospects: main Wolfsburg plant will be a pioneer in the production of the new all-electric compact class on the SSP platform
