Volkswagen Product Offensive to Include More Electrified Cars

Get ready to see more electric and electrified Volkswagens, as the brand plans to prepare the market for its upcoming MEB-based cars.

“When we come with the new electric platform we will come with a lineup and we will build towards that lineup,” said Hendrick Muth, VP of Product Marketing and Strategy, at the LA Auto Show.

The brand unveiled the new e-Golf at the show, and Muth said that Volkswagen is actively looking for other ways to introduce more electrified vehicles into the lineup, calling e-mobility part of the brand’s DNA.

In the aftermath of the TDI scandal, VW committed itself to converting a quarter of its sales to all-electric vehicles by 2025. In 2020 the brand plans to introduce a line of vehicles based on its new MEB platform, built from the ground up to underpin electric vehicles.

“We’re still looking at all sorts of opportunities,” said Muth. “What else is there beyond the e-Golf? What is the market? What can we do potentially?”

Rumors abound about an electric SUV that will come based on the MEB platform, so an electric, or plug-in hybrid SUV between now and 2020 seems likely. But performance is still a priority at VW.

Although Muth said that there are no current plans to introduce the Golf GTE—a plug-in hybrid performance car—in North America, the former communications director of Volkswagen R GmbH said that finding a way to introduce performance into the brand’s electric products is on his mind.

Muth explained that for now, the primary focus is on improving range and charging time, but that Volkswagen’s driving dynamics are not being left by the wayside.

“That’s why I came here,” said Muth, “to build up the R and accessories line.”

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