Next year is set to be a busy one for VW, with a host of new and heavily revised electric models going on sale.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schafer and his team are busy swiftly righting the wrongs of the company’s recent past with new tech, new names and new looks for the brand’s electric model range.
“Three years ago we had that conversation about what is a true Volkswagen and we said to the team, we really have to make the best version of Volkswagen that ever existed,” said Schafer. “So, we started looking at what is true Volkswagen design, then quality – the interior specifically – and so on, and the intuitive operations buttons in the vehicle, bringing in technologies from higher classes into vehicles in the lower classes and democratising it. And of course, the naming – it was feedback we got over and over and we said we're going to fix this.
“We gave the promise at the time that we're going to do this and that’s why it feels good now to actually show and deliver on what we promised and tick all those boxes, saying I think this is proper Volkswagen again in all aspects. I’m very proud of that.”
Schafer was referring to the new ID.Polo and ID.Polo GTI, which were shown at the Munich Motor Show alongside a barely disguised small SUV concept previewing next year’s new ID.Cross.
Now Volkswagen has revealed that a heavily revised ID.3 will also go on sale next year, alongside an ID.3 GTI that replaces the current GTX model.
But while the ID.3 is getting a substantial reworking, the bigger ID.4 SUV is being ditched altogether in favour of a new ID.Tiguan, said to be the bigger brother of the ID.Cross.
Speaking on the eve of the Munich show, Schafer confirmed that 2026 would see a “revised ID.3 and ID.3 GTI and a new ID.4” saying, “we will reveal the names of those cars, but not today!”
Asked whether updating ID.4 was more of a priority than ID.3, Schafer said, “ID.4 is our major selling vehicle that has to be in that space; a proper A-size SUV that we do twice in China, twice in Europe and once in the US. That has to be updated to the new design language and the interior. It’s a fantastic car that’s coming.”
Schafer also confirmed that the replacement for ID.4 will feature Volkswagen’s latest platform and battery technology. “ID.4 will get the MEB+ [platform] now with the new battery, the cells, LFP technology and all that that's coming in. So, it’s going to be a huge step up from today’s car.”
Schafer wouldn’t be drawn on the name for the new car, but when asked if it was right to speculate on it being called ID.Tiguan, he said, “feel free.”
However, Volkswagen design boss Andy Mindt did give a few clues to the look of the new car, referring to it in relation to the just released ID.Cross Concept. “I can promise you something,” said Mindt. “This will be the big brother of the car we saw today.”
Given the name ID.Cross is being used for the EV version of the T-Cross, it would seem logical that its bigger brother would be named along similar lines. And with the ID.4 being the electric equivalent of the Tiguan, it’s likely that the ID.4 replacement will be called ID.Tiguan.
Mindt said that the new bigger SUV would be “even nicer” than the ID.Cross. “You can name it the big brother,” he said. “And that will be next year.”
The ID.3 revamp will be substantial, with Mindt referencing “three or four major things that we solved” and promising that he will be honest enough to tell us what the “major mistakes” were when the new car is launched next year.
Schafer gave a few more clues to the 2026 upgrades to the ID.3 saying, “We are changing it, specifically in the interior.
“The car is a fantastic car to drive. We get phenomenal feedback. The criticism is the interior of the first version was hard plastic and so on. It was wrong. So that will be fixed completely.”
Schafer also promised a few tweaks to the exterior, while there’s also expected to be a tech overhaul, especially with the infotainment.
Although substantial, Mindt confirmed that the changes to the ID.3 are not extensive enough to warrant a new name. “It will not,” he said. However, he did confirm that when the ID.3 is replaced it will be replaced by the ID.Golf. “ID.Golf is something else,” said Mindt. “I can tell you this.”
Mindt also confirmed that the ID.3 replacement would not be launched until after Volkswagen’s new sub €20,000 electric hatch, previewed by the ID.Every1 concept from earlier this year. That car, which could take the ID.Up! name, is expected to be launched in 2027.
“The furthest I can look is 2027,” said Mindt pointing at a picture of the ID.Every1. That would mean an ID.Golf could be unveiled later that year or more likely in 2028, given the revised ID.3 at least a couple of years in production.
For the time being at least, all the new ID electric models will be sold alongside petrol versions of the original cars. So, Polo, Golf, T-Cross and Tiguan will all continue as petrol and plug-in hybrid models alongside their electric counterparts with ID. names. Mindt also hinted that the petrol models might get visual tweaks to bring them more into line with the brand’s EV range, all under VW’s new Pure Positive design theme.
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