Volkswagen won’t follow Renault and Ford with its own retro car rebirths

Volkswagen has ruled out jumping on the retro-naming bandwagon.

The rise of electrification has seen some iconic names brought back, such as the Renault 4 and 5 and Ford Capri, with an Opel/Vauxhall Manta EV also planned – but Volkswagen won’t follow this route with the likes of the Scirocco, according to brand CEO Thomas Schäfer.  

When questioned about the potential return of VW’s classic models with electric power, Schäfer told us: “You need to keep your portfolio, your core together to afford to do niche products – in the past we’ve done quite a lot of niche products and I’m not saying we won’t bring them back, but not at the moment. 

“Do we have money to gamble? I don’t think so. Right now it is about executing the perfect fleet and fitting our core regions the best.” 

Those “niche” products, according to the VW boss, include the Scirocco and Touran. “Our core ranges from small hatches to big SUVs and station wagons, but more niche things – like the Scirocco used to be, the Touran, those kinds of vehicles – have a place in our overall view. To realise them and see if there is enough market share… that’s the debate we have every year,” Schäfer continued.  

If the Scirocco – or any other iconic VW model – was to return as an EV, it would have to be similar to its predecessor. “Scirocco is a very special model, but if it doesn’t reflect the original DNA then we’d rather do something else and give it a new name,” added Schäfer. 

In a subtle reference to Ford’s decision to bring the Capri name back with an electric SUV, he said: “It’s a mistake if you call something what it is not. We would never do it; if it’s a GTI it had better be a GTI. If it’s an R model, it had better be true to the R’s history.”

There’s room for existing models to gain an ‘ID’ moniker en route to electrification, however, provided they’re ‘iconic’ enough. Schäfer revealed to Auto Express in 2024 that the firm might be considering an ID.Golf, stating the Golf name is “definitely one we’ll keep – there’s no way we’d let that go”.

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