Volkswagen has two new bosses; brand CEO Thomas Schafer and VW of America President and CEO Pablo Di Si both joined the company earlier this year. The two executives were in attendance at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show to discuss the future of the German marque and even opened up about the possibility of adding something more thrilling to the EV range.
One vehicle that's been rumored for some time is an electric ID sports car. Although we still don't have all the details on what VW has planned for battery-powered performance vehicles, the two execs did shed more light on the project at a roundtable interview during the auto show.
"We need to bring a sports car back for the nostalgia, probably electric." Pablo Di Si said to the group. "It's part of the portfolio discussion that we're having."
Currently, the most powerful ID product that VW sells is the ID.4 GTX, which yields 295 horsepower (220 kilowatts) from an 82.0-kilowatt-hour battery pack and will get to 60 in about 3.9 seconds. Beyond that, buyers can still get their hands on gas-powered hot hatchbacks like the Golf GTI and Golf R, which deliver 241 hp (180 kW) and 315 hp (235 kW) respectively.
But whereas rumors from 2020 hinted at a slinky sports car or a droptop akin to the BlueSport concept from 2009, CEO Thomas Schafer indicates that this electric "sports car" will be more in line with its iconic gas-powered hatchbacks.
"It's not going to be a sports car like a Porsche or a roadster or something," Schafer said. "We're talking more in the tradition of the Golf GTI."
Gallery: 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI US Version
And as far as nameplates go, ID, Golf, and GTI will all live happily together.
"We have iconic brand names, Golf and GTI," Schafer told Autocar in an interview. "It would be crazy to let them die and slip away. We will stick with the ID logic but iconic models will carry a name."
Volkswagen has already committed to making its R performance sub-brand fully electric by the year 2030, with several electric performance models under consideration. But the two execs didn't give a timetable on when the first electric sports car could hit the market.
