Now number one even in the home market of Fiat (will John Elkann really wait until 2026 to replace Carlos Tavares?), Volkswagen dominates Europe. It has however lost Chinese market supremacy to BYD and continues to be a relatively small brand in the USA. This report explores certain potential next generation VWs which will see the brand reinvented for the 2030s.
A segment
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Will there be an e-up! replacement in 2027? If so, it would be called ID.1 and have a 20,000 euro target base price. Interestingly, the platform will not be MEB Entry (see B segment models) but a bespoke architecture.
B segment cars & SUVs
European production of the Polo (plant: Navarra/Pamplona) ended in July, build for Europe shifting to Kariega (formerly Uitenhage). The issue of a seventh generation keeps cropping up, especially as the Polo Mark VI is now seven years old. VW will probably give the little hatchback a second facelift in 2025 and keep building it in South Africa until decade-end.
To be shown in 2025 but not available until 2026, the ID.2 will be a small FWD hatchback just like the ID.2 ALL concept. Introducing MEB Entry, a front-wheel drive platform, this model will go up against Stellantis’ E-208 and Corsa Electric. Length is to be less than that of the Polo but the wheelbase will be lengthier, as per the ID.3 design philosophy.
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By GlobalDataOther future models for MEB Entry include the ID.2X (E-2008 rival), Cupra Raval and Skoda Epiq. There will be both a 38 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate prismatic cells battery and a 56 kWh alternative, the chemistry of which is not yet known. The ID.2X might also replace the T-Cross, a huge risk given how well the latter sells. Navarra is being retooled to make two electric SUVs and this could be one of them.
Back with ICE models, project VW246 draws closer to being revealed. There are multiple speculative names for this small SUV, including Hera, Therion, Tera, Copa, Teon, Copan and Taira. Due in mid-2025, production will be in Brazil, Taubate considered to be the most likely plant. The life cycle should be eight to ten years, with a facelift in 2029.
Golf sized cars & SUVs
A new Tharu XR – built in China by SAIC VW – was announced in June. MQB A0-based and positioned above the T-Cross and below the Tharu, the 4,355 mm long SUV has the same 2,651 mm wheelbase as the T-Cross and the Indian market Taigun. It should be facelifted in 2027 and replaced in 2030 or 2031.
The next T-Roc is scheduled to become available in 2025/2026 but there will not be a successor for the Cabriolet. Build of that model, which takes place at the former Karmann works in Osnabrück, is due to end in April 2026, at which time the plant might be closed.
The platform for T-Roc Mk II should be MQB Evo with mild hybrid powertrains featuring as well as maybe a PHEV and even an eventual ID.Roc electric variant (on a different architecture). A facelift would happen in 2030 with the third generation due in 2033.
In 2026, an electric ‘compact SUV’ will enter production in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen has confirmed, without saying too much more. This will surely be the rumoured ‘ID.3 SUV’.
Still unable to crack the Indian market in a major way, Volkswagen nonetheless keeps trying. Come 2026/2027 there will be a fresh attempt with two electric SUVs (one each for VW and Skoda), both on a new platform called MEB21G. Chakan will be the manufacturing base with exports planned.
There will also be two unrelated EV-SUVs for the Chinese market around the same time as the first model for India arrives. These are being codeveloped with XPeng. To be manufactured in Hefei, the platform is the Chinese OEM‘s G9 Edward.
D segment cars and SUVs
Will there be yet another 4.8 m long electric SUV for the Chinese market? That would appear to be the message behind the ID.Code which debuted at the Beijing motor show in April. The concept’s retracting steering yoke for autonomous mode probably won’t make it to production. Expect the market launch to be in 2027.
A far larger seller than many people realise, the Tiguan is becoming an even bigger deal for its next generation. China came first and we have now seen the version for Europe.
For this generation, there are again two lengths but the Tiguan Allspace name gives way (depending on the country) to Tayron. In China, where the FAW-VW Tayron L Pro was announced at the Beijing motor show in April, length and wheelbase for this five-seater are 4,735 & 2,791 mm. The interior is almost identical to that of European markets’ new Tiguan, this also applying to the SAIC-VW Tiguan L pro which was launched in China on 30 May.
The fresh generations of this five- and seven-seat D-SUV series will eventually be produced at manufacturing plants in Germany (Wolfsburg), China (Anting and Changchun) and Mexico (Puebla). VW of America has made it clear that its next Tiguan will not be a mere renaming of the European Tayron pictured above: not only powertrains but sheetmetal will also differ. Look for its debut at the LA auto show in November.
Another fresh entry into the D-SUV segment is the ID.UNYX. A restyled Cupra Taviscan, to be built in and for China by VW Anhui, RWD variants will have a 170 kW motor while there will also be 250 kW 4WD variants (170 kW rear & 80 kW front motors) and a 77 net/82.4 gross kWh CATL battery. This, the first model in the ID UX line-up, a new sub-brand, is due on sale within months.
Ongoing delays with software development are claimed to be one reason why so many Volkswagen Group electric models are being delayed. Some believe the due-in-2029 successors for the ID.4 and ID.5, might be tardier still; 2030 is now being hinted at. Should this be the case, there will be another facelift for the existing models before the SSP architecture replacements land. As well as these styling changes in 2026, the platform will be upgraded to MQB Evo.
E segment models
The still-new Passat tends to be almost forgotten about in Europe but it is a different story in China where there is a new generation sedan rather than an estate/Variant. SAIC VW’s five-metres long Passat Pro debuted at the Chengdu motor show in August and should be in production until the early 2030s. Its near-twin is the FAW VW Magotan. Both use MQB Evo. All these cars should be facelifted in 2027/2028.
Debuting in February, the ID.7 S is SAIC-VW’s equivalent to the FAW-VW ID.7 Vizzion. This 5,026 mm long electric car has its own special body, a 2,966 mm wheelbase and 170 kW motor versus only 150 kW for the ID.7 Vizzion. Both models are due mid-life facelifts in 2027 but unless sales improve, replacements are by no means certain. The same applies to the European market ID.7 and ID.7 Tourer. Also, no fresh launch date for North American markets has been announced following the sudden 22 May statement that US market sales would not now be commencing as scheduled.
Will Trinity, which is believed to be an E segment vehicle, ever arrive? There have been so many twists and turns with this project the question is fair. Expected to be made in Zwickau since Warmenau, a proposed new plant in Wolfsburg, was cancelled, the launch date remains vague: some time between 2028 and 2032.
Next year sees the arrival of new editions of the Atlas and Teramont twins. Insiders report that the Chinese market model will become the Teramont Pro, whilst the Atlas will be new for the 2026 model year in North America. Each will be the final IC-powered generation of this big SUV.
Larger still is the Talagon, FAW-VW having launched this huge SUV in June 2021 and facelifted it in June. A replacement is therefore expected in 2027. Given trends in China, the second generation will likely be an EV.
MPVs & Campers
Will there be an ID.Buzz California? Yes, says Volkswagen, but only if there is a market for an electric campervan by the forecast launch date of 2028. That should be a little after a mid-cycle facelift for the original lands. The issue is obviously excess weight: might owners or hirers even need a special driving licence?
Pick-ups
Much to the annoyance of its dealers in Canada and the USA, a project to finally create a special pick-up for those markets was cancelled in the first quarter of this year. Still the rumours continue, the latest one making a fair bit of sense in fact: giving the future Scout pick-up a fresh body and VW badges. That would mean a launch in perhaps 2028 at the earliest.
