Volkswagen This is what brand boss Thomas Schäfer told the brand ID.3And ID.4 Electric vehicles (EVs) are being replaced by “real Volkswagens” in a dramatic shift due to known flaws in design and usability.
In conversation with Auto Express at a preview of the new ID.3 Neo – an updated version of the ID.3, which will be followed by a revised ID.4 – Mr Schäfer said the new model represents the start of a brand transformation after Volkswagen went off course with its electric mobility offensive.
“It was clear to me that we were actually losing our core: what Volkswagen really stands for, the special Volkswagen feeling, for customers, for fans and for our teams,” he said Auto Express.
If you count the number of days since he took over as CEO of Skoda in 2022, Mr Schaefer said the vision was reset.
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“I am very pleased to be standing before you today after 1,360 days with a strong team and a clear goal: to build real Volkswagen models again, cars that carry the spirit of the brand.”
The comments follow significant losses following the automaker’s heavy investment in electric vehicles, with the models criticized for their unfamiliar branding, dull exterior designs and problematic user interfaces – including the lack of physical buttons.
The ID.4, for example, was widely criticized for its smartphone-like sliders, prompting frustrated owners in the US to file a lawsuit against the automaker.
Although the Volkswagen brand overtook Tesla in electric vehicle sales in Europe last year, declining global sales meant the Volkswagen Group announced another 15,000 layoffs last month as part of 50,000 job cuts planned by 2030 after profits fell 53 percent.
As part of this restructuring, Volkswagen Group closed its factory in Brussels, Belgium, while brands under its umbrella, including Audi and Porsche, also saw sales and profits decline.
The company also closed its Dresden factory in December, marking the first German factory closure in the company’s history, and announced this week that it will stop producing electric vehicles at its Tennessee factory in the United States. The conversion to build other models is expected to cost US$800 million (AUD$1.12 billion).
Describing the ID.3 – which is not sold in Australia – and the ID.4 as “not real Volkswagens” in terms of design, Mr Schäfer admitted the brand had lost direction internally, which was affecting its products.
“We had to change, we had to develop a new way of thinking,” Herr said said Shepherd.
“We got our management team together, all 600 of them, and I said, ‘Put all the numbers on the table, all the problems, no filters,’ and we talked about where we wanted to go.”
“I expected people to hold back, but people stood up, applauded and said, ‘We’re finally looking the right way’.”
This includes a new commitment to internal combustion engine (ICE) models, reversing the previous plan to sell only electric vehicles by 2033, supported by regulatory changes in the European Union that will relax a mandate for the sale of 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
Emissions laws have also been rolled back significantly in the US, improving the short-term viability of ICE models following the end of national tax breaks for electric vehicles after September 30, 2025.
Volkswagen has also confirmed that it will rely on its iconic model names – such as Polo and Golf – for future electric vehicles to better position them with buyers.
This also includes the ID. Cross compact electric SUV and the ID. Polo, hot ID included. Polo GTI variant was introduced this year. Petrol versions will remain on offer, with the current Golf set set to be sold alongside an upcoming electric Golf in the foreseeable future.
Volkswagen Australia is in the midst of a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) push amid rising demand for hybrid vehicles. Tiguan PHEV and Tayron PHEV are expected to be available in showrooms before June 2026.
The local branch has meaningfully excluded the current ID.3 for Australia Daily Sparkz Last month it focused on mid-size EV SUV segments – where it has offered the ID.4 and ID.5 since 2025 – with the larger ID.7 also not expected on site any time soon.
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