VW CEO: No Gas Powertrain for Next-Gen Golf

Chris Teague
by Chris Teague

Volkswagen hasn’t been secretive about its plans to go all-electric, but many held out hope that we’d get at least one more generation of Golf with internal combustion. Company CEO Thomas Schäfer told Automobilwoche that the cars wouldn’t get a new gas powertrain in future generations.


The good news is that VW will retain the Golf, GTI, and other vehicle names in the transition to electric vehicles. Some had speculated that everything would move to the automaker’s ID branding, so it’s nice to see that we’ll still have familiar nameplates going forward.


Schäfer said the ninth-generation Golf would arrive near the end of the decade, as VW plans to replace its MQB architecture with an electric-first platform. He didn’t shut down the potential for a gas engine down the road if something significant changed with the world in the next few years. Still, the automaker has given no indication that it’s pursuing an alternate strategy to its plans to fully electrify itself by 2033. 


In the meantime, VW has new EVs coming here soon. The ID. Buzz van is expected this summer as a throwback to the company’s famed buses, and the ID.7 sedan will arrive as a 2024 model later this year. 


[Image: Volkswagen]


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Chris Teague
Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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  • Tassos Tassos on Apr 03, 2023

    On the bright side, maybe the E-Golf will not be as HORRENDOUSLY UNRELIABLE as all of its ICE versions have been.

  • Kwik_Shift Kwik_Shift on Apr 03, 2023

    The only VW EV I'd be interested in is the ID Buzz. But at an estimated $70,000 bottlecaps, I cannot justify getting one.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Apr 05, 2023

    Volkswagen's main markets are China and Europe, almost 80% of production. Both markets now are virtually mandating EVs over ICEs. North America, including Canada and Mexico, is under 9% of their market. VW is following the dictates of Brussels and Beijing to stay in business.

  • 28-Cars-Later 28-Cars-Later on Apr 05, 2023

    "Both markets now are virtually mandating EVs over ICEs."


    Dictatorships tend to mandate things.

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