Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R to live on past 2028 electric switch – report

The ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf will be the first version of the iconic hatchback to ditch petrol and diesel power, but the performance GTI and R badges will remain on the electric car, according to overseas reports.

Speaking with UK publication Autocar at the IAA Munich motor show, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer said it would be “crazy” for the Golf GTI and Golf R nameplates to “die and slip away” after the hatchback switches to electric-only power from 2028.

“Going forward, we've taught the world what a GTI is, and we’ve told the world what the R is, so it would be ludicrous to re-educate people (on performance VWs),” Mr Schäfer told Autocar. 

“GTI with Golf was always legendary. We will carry on. We need substance to it, with performance. We’re working on a performance (electric) model to carry GTI forward.”

The confirmation that the Golf GTI name will continue comes a month after Volkswagen trademarked a logo which exchanged the badge's “I” – originally used to denote fuel injection – for a lightning bolt.

Volkswagen has previously badged the performance variants of its ID-branded electric vehicles as GTXs, a nomenclature which is expected to remain on the alpha-numeric models.

While there is no timeline yet on when the electric Volkswagen Golf GTI will launch, Autocar reports the battery-powered Golf R could go into production from 2029 – one year after the non-performance grades of the hatchback are due to go on sale overseas.

“You need models that are exciting. R has always been our exciting place. We’ve spent a lot of time and money to get that brand, and we’re not going to give that up,” Mr Schäfer said.

“But we’re only going to call it R if it’s an R in terms of performance, in terms of all wheel drive.”

As previously reported, next-generation Volkswagen Golf is set to move away from petrol and diesel power as early as 2028 – assuming there is no U-turn in the global roll-out of battery vehicles.

The current eighth-generation Golf is due to receive an update next year with a revised look and new technology, while retaining petrol and diesel power in global markets before the all-new electric-only ‘Golf 9’ arrives.

The ninth-generation Volkswagen Golf is expected to ride on the German car-maker's new ‘SSP’ electric-car platform, which will be an 800-volt system capable of charging a model’s battery pack from 10 to 80 per cent in 12 minutes.

Volkswagen’s SSP platform is a complete overhaul of the ‘MEB’ architecture which underpins the current Golf-sized ID.3 hatchback, as well as all other ID-branded electric models.