Volkswagen is temporarily halting preliminary development of the electric Golf after financial pressure on the German manufacturer reached one of its most important future models. The decision was announced by Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schaefer in an internal memo to employees.
“I know what the Golf means for Volkswagen and for Wolfsburg. That's why this decision was really not easy for us. We simply can't afford this work right now“, Schaefer wrote, quoted by Reuters.
There is a pause for preliminary work on the ID. Golf project, but the model has not been canceled. Volkswagen's works council believes that the decision will not change the planned launch of the car and that the delay can be compensated. However, the company has not specified a date on which development will resume. The internal memo also reveals the specific reason for the cost-cutting. Volkswagen's main plant in Wolfsburg is 300 million euros behind its cost-cutting target. The factories in Emden and Zwickau are meeting their targets, but the company's home plant is failing to achieve the necessary savings.
This is happening against the backdrop of a large-scale restructuring that foresees the reduction of around 100,000 jobs in Germany. Volkswagen is also discussing the closure of German plants, while relations between management and workers are deteriorating over the restructuring plan. ID. Golf should be among the first series models on the new Scalable Systems Platform, or SSP. It was developed with the aim of simplifying production and reducing costs for future electric vehicles from the Volkswagen Group. The platform was originally supposed to be introduced in 2026, but is now being delayed.
Until the arrival of the electric Golf ID.3 Neo, it will remain the electric alternative in the compact class. The combustion engine version of the Golf is expected to continue production for several more years, with production to move from Wolfsburg to Puebla, Mexico, from 2027. The Golf has been part of Volkswagen's range since 1974, and more than 37 million cars have been produced in eight generations. It is the model's importance that makes the decision to temporarily halt development unusually indicative of the financial difficulties facing the German manufacturer.