Volkswagen pauses Golf EV development amid record losses

Development of the Volkswagen ID. Golf, a small hatchback based on the company's next-generation electric vehicle (EV) platform, has been put on ice.

In an interview published on Volkswagen's intranet, and obtained by local state broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Thomas Schäfer, head of the Volkswagen brand, told employees work on the ID. Golf has officially been paused because "we simply cannot afford this work at present".

He was keen to point out, though, that "we're pausing, not cancelling".

In an official statement, David Powels, finance chief for the Volkswagen brand, said the company decided to "temporarily pause development work on the future ID. Golf at the Volkswagen brand until we can securely accommodate the necessary investments".

Mr Powels said the company was keen to maintain a "high level of investment discipline" as the current market is "extremely challenging" and the company's finances are being weighed down by "special items".

At the end of last week, the Volkswagen Group announced a €5.9 billion (A$9.4bn) loss thanks to €8.7 billion (A$13.8bn) in one-off charges, most of which was a €6.4 billion (A$10.2bn) write down on the value of its majority stake in Porsche. This result is the company's largest quarterly loss since 2015, when the Dieselgate emissions cheating scandal surfaced.

As part of its latest turnaround plan, announced in July this year, the automaker plans to fire up to 100,000 staff members, close four factories in Germany, and cut its model range in half by the early 2030s.

It's now unclear when the electric Golf will appear, but some time in the early 2030s seems to be a reasonable guess.

This isn't the first setback for the electric Golf. In May, Mr Schäfer confirmed the ID. Golf's release date had been pushed back from 2028 to 2030.

With the launch of the all-new ID. Polo and ID. Cross this year, as well as the debut of the heavily facelifted ID.3 Neo (nee ID. 3) and ID. Tiguan (nee ID.4), Mr Schäfer reasoned at the time that the brand was "well set with what we have in our [EV] portfolio" and therefore did "not need an electric Golf in 2028".

The ID. Golf was set to be one of the first vehicles based on the Volkswagen Group's new 800V SSP (Scalable Systems Platform) that will, one day, replace the mainstream MEB and luxury-focussed PPE architectures.

Thanks, in part, to software issues SSP has been delayed multiple times, and will most likely surface in a production luxury car around 2028.

When the ID. Golf is unveiled, it will be sold concurrently with the petrol-powered Golf range, the life of which has been extended to 2035 and beyond.

Until then, those keen for a small electrified Volkswagen hatch will have to choose between the recently-unveiled hybrid Golf, a Golf plug-in hybrid, or the fully-electric ID. 3 Neo tall hatch. None of these cars are available in Australia.

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