GTI in electric
GTI – these three letters stand for particularly sporty models from Wolfsburg. In the future there will also be electric GTI models.
(Photo: Reuters)
Instead of an electronic innovation, the Volkswagen brand brought a bit of nostalgia to this year’s IAA. At the start of the auto show, Germany’s largest car manufacturer showed a concept study that harks back to the old days. On Sunday evening, CEO Oliver Blume unveiled an electric GTI, based on the legendary sporty Golf model.
The ID series, which was also optically designed as a purely electric brand, has recently weakened. VW even had to adjust its sales targets downwards.
With the GTI concept, the group is now relying on the successful models of the past, which should live on as electric cars. Iconic models such as the Golf or Tiguan should make the leap into the electric age and rely on classic VW design elements.
However, a production version of the GTI concept now presented is not expected until 2027. By then, the group’s core brand wants to bring eleven new electric cars onto the market.
VW is currently in a quandary with its next product generation: Models such as an electric Golf or Tiguan would be direct competition for current electric models such as the ID.3, ID.4 or ID.5. But the ID series is far from having reached the end of its product cycle. There was even a facelift for the ID.3 recently. That should also be one of the reasons why the group is not in too much of a hurry to implement the GTI concept.
Electric cars: VW wants to get faster in terms of charging speed
In order to continue to put pressure on electromobility, Volkswagen is relying on other models: From 2025, the ID.2 will be a cheap electric car with an entry-level price of less than 25,000 euros. The company promises that the further developed MEB+ platform will offer ten percent more range and efficiency.
VW also wants to improve the charging speed: the brand’s models, each of which will have a Skoda and Cupra counterpart, should be able to charge their batteries in 20 minutes, as VW announced on Monday at the IAA. “We’re making good progress – faster than planned,” said VW CEO Oliver Blume, referring to the switch to electric cars and other business areas such as mobility services.
VW also relies on leasing bicycles
In addition, VW surprised with the announcement that it would now also enter the business with leasing bicycles. The financial subsidiary Volkswagen Financial Services is planning a stake in the Dutch provider Bike Mobility Services (BMS), with whose parent company Pon the Wolfsburg-based company is already working together on the car rental company Europcar.
According to information from the Handelsblatt, VW is investing more than 330 million euros in the Dutch leasing business. Pon is the largest bicycle manufacturer in Europe and sells brands such as Gazelle and Kalkhoff. BMS is represented in bike leasing with brands such as Business Bike, Lease A Bike and B2Bike.
VW boss Oliver Blume
The CEO at the IAA in Munich.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
“We are systematically driving the transformation forward and are consistently opening up further attractive sources of income in the area of sustainable mobility,” said VW CEO Blume. The group expects a new, lucrative business area in Europe and the USA from the participation in BMS. The aim is to become the number one bike financier in Europe.
More Handelsblatt articles on the IAA can be found here:
VW boss Blume also offered dialogue with numerous environmental activists who had protested at the IAA in Munich for a mobility turnaround. “I support that,” he said in a round of journalists. It is “a very important element of our democracy to exchange ideas critically and constructively”.
However, he has “very determined” something against people “who only rely on defense” and do not come up with suggestions on how to combat climate change. “Anyone who only travels destructively and gets stuck somewhere doesn’t take any responsibility. I appreciate people who take responsibility,” Blume told journalists.
Extinction Rebellion activists abseiled down bridges near the BMW headquarters in Munich on Monday, causing lengthy traffic jams.
More: Audi duped Porsche with the presentation of the new electric SUV Q6
First publication: 09/04/2023, 05:27 p.m.