Volkswagen generally struggles with naming its automobiles for america market. Take the case of the Rabbit within the mid-70s that turned the Golf (for gulf stream, not the game) then turned the Rabbit once more earlier than it turned the Golf once more. The Golf is just barely nonetheless within the U.S., with the one mannequin really badged as such being the Golf R (the GTI has no “Golf” badges).
Nicely, the little hatchback is having a comeback… maybe. Name the concept Rabbit Redux: goodbye to ID.2, good day to all-electric Golf.
Apparently the corporate’s ID-branded stylings and names are too bland and up to now have met with “lower than lukewarm” receptions amongst clients and VW execs, according to Autocar, therefore the revival of the Golf identify for the idea previously named ID.2.
VW is not the one firm dropping electrical initials. We reported in January that Mercedes-Benz is ready to drop the EQ product model naming for battery-electric automobiles by the top of subsequent yr. The choice was based mostly on Chief Govt Ola Kaellenius’s concept that the initials had been redundant as Mercedes turns away from the combustion engine.
However as for this ID.2/Golf, Autocar’s unnamed sources at Autocar additionally say it will likely be the primary Volkswagen mannequin based mostly on the brand new MEB-Plus platform and utilizing lithium iron phosphate (LFP) prismatic battery cells. It’ll reportedly obtain a extra typical hatchback form with “the type of inside area of fashions usually one section greater.” The choice to go along with a standard hatchback form is reportedly a results of a quite tepid response to the “ID.Life” concept from 2020.
It’s anticipated to value round $24,000, however it’s unclear if the automobile might be offered within the States. If actually involves America, the mannequin, Autocar speculates, may additionally result in manufacturing of a tweaked electrical GTI model.
For readers intrigued about different bits of Volkwagen’s naming lore past ID.4 and ID.Buzz and ID.No matter, the record may embrace Scirocco and Jetta (each winds), Eos and Phaeton (Greek gods), Tiguan (a melange of animals), Corrado (from the Spanish verb correr, which means to run), and, in fact, Beetle. Not lengthy after it first appeared on German roads, the Volkswagen Kind 1 was dubbed the Käfer – or Beetle. Different nicknames: “the bubble” in Denmark; coccinelle, or ladybug, in France, and “turtle automobile” in Thailand. And in the country that built both old and new (well, also now old) Beetles, Mexico, they’re usually known as vochos.
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