Volkswagen’s flagship electric cars won’t get their own factory anymore

Volkswagen has detailed a revised strategy for its German production facilities through 2028, aimed at reducing complexity and increasing efficiency.

The German carmaker has confirmed it won’t be building a €2 billion (~A$3.3 billion) dedicated factory for the upcoming Trinity electric flagship as initially planned.

It will instead be produced at Volkswagen’s existing plant in Zwickau at the end of the decade, which will undergo updates in order to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) built on the forthcoming Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) architecture.

Volkswagen has also confirmed the electric Mk 9 Golf will also be produced at the Zwickau plant. This new-generation model will be built on the SSP architecture and is intended to be “high-volume”.

Currently, the Zwickau plant produces MEB-based electric models including the Volkswagen ID.3, ID.4, and ID.5, as well as the Cupra Born, and Audi Q4 e-tron.

The German carmaker has ensured the current-generation Golf, as well as the recently revealed new-generation Tiguan will be produced at its Wolfsburg plant.

In 2025 the successor to the current Tiguan Allspace will also be produced at the Wolfsburg plant.

Earlier this year Autocar India reported a next-generation version of the Tayron will replace the existing Tiguan Allspace.

Currently, the Tayron name is applied to a China-only Volkswagen model with five seats, slotting under the larger Teramont (Atlas).

Volkswagen will built an A-segment electric SUV in 2026 at its Wolfsburg plant in “large numbers”.

It appears this small electric SUV will slot under the upcoming ID.2 and will likely be a similar in size to the likes of the Suzuki Ignis, which is a current A-segment-sized crossover.

It’s unclear if this upcoming A-segment electric SUV will be a higher-riding successor the likes of the e-Up, nor if it will be the forthcoming EV under €20,000 (~A$38,000).

This A-segment electric SUV will be the second electric model produced at the Wolfsburg plant, following the ID.3 which is due to launch locally in late 2024.

The rest of Volkswagen’s German production facilities will continue with their existing plans. This includes the Osnabrück plant which currently produces the T-Roc convertible and Arteon in partnership with Porsche.

The latter of these vehicles were recently culled globally as part of a movement to kill low-volume cars. The last local Arteon example will likely be sold before the end of 2023.

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