“You need a car that really fits the customer demands in that price class. You don’t need high-end technology within these cars,” said Grünitz.
“Maybe you could bring your own device into this car instead of having a huge infotainment system, or something like that,” he added, hinting at the possibility for the Up replacement to feature a smartphone cradle in place of a touchscreen, like the previous car.
“It has to be tailored to the customer group,” he said, adding that the focus will instead be on making it “bigger inside than outside”, with effective use of space and a range of innovative storage solutions.
Neither will the final car be equipped with 200kW fast-charging capacity or a battery that allows it to travel long distances because it’s envisioned as a pure city car, “not a car for driving thousands of kilometres on the highway”.
The Volkswagen e-Up, retired last year along with the petrol Up as production came to a close in Bratislava, Slovakia, had a claimed range of 161 miles and could charge at a maximum speed of 37kWh.
Asked by Autocar whether the Up’s replacement can be produced profitably, Grünitz suggested that it might not need to generate huge margins in its own right but could rather serve as a ‘loss leader’ by introducing younger users to the VW EV line-up.
“Should it be a vehicle that is profitable on its own, or should we look for a vehicle that might be for first users? I started with a Polo when I was 18 years old. I got in touch with the VW family, jumped into a Golf and never left the Volkswagen family. It’s really important to have a vehicle for first-car users,” Grünitz said.
“There’s also the possibility to earn money with more expensive cars,” he said, suggesting margins from larger cars could be sufficient to support production of a less profitable model.