Volkswagen Golf: End of career soon?
In the German press, the Volkswagen boss expressed doubts about the survival of the Golf…
For manufacturers, full electric is coming very soon. The legislative ax will fall in 2035, 13 years from now. However, if we know that the average life cycle of a car isabout 7 years old, normal that brands successively abandon the development of subsequent generations of their current models. but surprise even the greatest credentials are in jeopardy of extinction. Thomas SchaeferThe boss of the Volkswagen brand cannot currently guarantee a ninth generation for his star sedan.
The Euro 7 standard will drive up prices
It’s in an interview given to the magazine world on Sunday, in Germany that Thomas Schäfer has expressed doubts about a possible Volkswagen Golf 9. Doubts that begin with the adoption of the very strict Euro 7 norms. In fact, the necessary equipment and work to upgrade the heat engines would be such as would have an impact a massive price increasedepending on the model between 3,000 and 5,000 euros.
“These additional costs can hardly be offset for a small car. Getting started with mobility for combustion engines will therefore be significantly more expensive,” says Thomas Schäfer.
This applies more to the Polo, which could therefore quickly disappear from the catalogue. The additional costs would be more easily absorbable for a sedan like the gulf. But the problem lies mainly elsewhere.
Too close to the bottom of the thermal?
The Volkswagen Golf 8 is scheduled to come onto the market in 2020 logically end his career around 2027. At that date we would be only 8 years away from the end of thermal power in Europe. Above all, the electronics market and the alternatives offered by Volkswagen (such as a second generation of the ID.3) are likely to push the thermals into the background. All the more so when prices explode with the arrival of 7 euros.
So it’s logical that Volkswagen plans not to replace the Golf. “We’ll have to see whether it’s worth developing a new vehicle that doesn’t have a full service life of seven or eight years (…) We’ll know more in twelve months.”
In short, see you in mid-2023 to capture the future of the Volkswagen Golf. We imagine that a compromise could be reached. At the end of the initial career of the Golf 8, Volkswagen could move on a second redesign, a little lower, and will continue to offer this Golf “8.5” for a few more years. It’s a bit like what Porsche did with the redesigned Macan in the same group while waiting for the electric version. Renault also plays in the same tones with a thermal Mégane, still in the catalog alongside its electric equivalent.
Source: The World
Also read:
