Kai Grunitz, the member of the board of management responsible for technical development at the Volkswagen brand, has stopped short of confirming that the ID.3 will be phased out in favor of the Golf. The Mk9 is expected to arrive in 2028 on the Scalable Systems Platform, an extremely modular architecture that will assimilate the VW Group's MEB and PPE electric vehicle platforms.
Grunitz did confirm to British motoring publication Top Gear that Volkswagen is already developing a zero-emission Golf. He also made it clear that Volkswagen has identified an overlap between the Mk9 and ID.3, which is another way of saying the ID.3 nameplate will be canned no later than 2028.
The Golf's brand equity is clearly superior to that of the ID.3, therefore it makes plenty of sense for the Golf to replace the ID.3 in the automaker's lineup. Be that as it may, there's more to a name than brand equity. Grunitz stated that any electric vehicle with said nameplate has to be a Golf in every respect, referring to affordability, design, and practicality. "There has to be a GTI," added the VW official.
The ninth generation is expected to enter series production in 2028 because Golfs are usually replaced every 8 years or so. Volkswagen revealed the Mk8 in October 2019 for the 2020 model year in Europe, yet America received the GTI and R for the 2022 model year. Similar to the Audi A3, Skoda Scala, and SEAT Leon, the eighth-gen Golf is underpinned by the MQB Evo vehicle platform.
Similarly to the SSP, the MQB is a modular design that accommodates everything from subcompacts (think MQB A0-based Audi A1) to large crossovers (think MQB Evo-based Audi Q6 for the Chinese market). The SSP is even more ambitious, though.
Photo: Volkswagen
Remember the Lamborghini Lanzadar concept? It's coming in 2028 with SSP underpinnings, most likely the SSP Sport version of said platform. Bentley is certain to use this platform as well, although it remains to be seen if Bugatti will follow suit. For the time being, the French marque is focused on delivering a hybridized successor to the Chiron.
Scheduled to launch in 2026, the Scalable Systems Platform was originally planned to handle up to 1,100 horsepower. Back in June 2023, big kahuna Oliver Blume corrected this estimate to 1,700 horsepower, which sounds like Bugatti territory.
By comparison, the punchiest version of the ID.3 in production today features a rear-mounted electric motor with 201 horsepower on tap. For the upcoming ID.3 GTX, maximum output should mirror that of the 295-horsepower ID.4 GTX.
As you're well aware, the Golf belts out a few more ponies in R flavor. All-wheel drive by default, the R makes 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet (420 Nm) from a displacement of 2.0 liters. Output numbers for the Mk8.5 aren't yet available, but do bear in mind that the GTI has gained 20 horsepower over the Mk8, bringing the total to 261 ponies.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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