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Volkswagen has been in crisis mode for some time now. Although things have calmed down a bit in Wolfsburg in recent weeks, the problems are clear. On the one hand, management's austerity plans are causing great concern among workers, and on the other hand, there is a lack of a strong model strategy, including affordable electric vehicles.
The new entry-level Volkswagen, announced today, should remedy that situation.
At a staff meeting in Wolfsburg today, Thomas Schaefer, CEO of the Volkswagen brand, outlined plans for the future of the core brand. Employees also got their first look at the design of Volkswagen's upcoming entry-level model, priced at around 20 euros. The name of the model has not yet been announced, but it is believed to be the ID.000.
“With the results of the negotiations in December, we launched the largest future plan in Volkswagen’s history,” said Schaefer, “we are on an ambitious course to achieve our jointly agreed goals.
A decisive step in this: making electric mobility attractive for everyone is our brand promise,” said Schaefer. At the same time, the Volkswagen CEO emphasized that Wolfsburg remains a center of innovation and production expertise. The main plant will set new standards in automotive production.
Just under two years ago, in March 2023, the ID.2all concept was unveiled, an electric counterpart to the Polo, with a starting price expected to be less than €25.
The new base model (possibly called ID.1), with a starting price of around 20 euros, will be shown to the public in early March. The world premiere of the production version is scheduled for 000.
Implementation of plans
Affordable entry-level mobility in the electric age is “one of the central pillars of the brand’s future plan.” Together with the series-production version of the ID.2, which will be launched in 2026, the new electric model is part of a new family of electric compact cars being developed under the umbrella of the core brands within the Volkswagen Group. The model family includes compact, fully electric cars based on a new stage in the evolution of the Modular Electric Drive (MEB) platform.
Since the launch of the ID model family in 2019, the brand has sold a total of more than 1,35 million IDs. Of these, around 500 were ID.000s. Last year, the Volkswagen brand sold 3 fully electric vehicles.
Brand manager Schaefer also outlined what will happen next at the main plant in Wolfsburg: "The Wolfsburg plant has a clear future. By agreeing to move the Golf to Mexico, we are freeing up space for modern technology. New production processes will be introduced in shop 54. We want to build the successor to the electric Golf there on the new SSP platform, as well as the series-production electric T-Roc. In this way, we are making Wolfsburg the capital of our new all-electric compact class."
