Volkswagen has delayed the launch of its electric Golf (ID.Golf) to after 2028.

InsideEVs reported on May 14 that Volkswagen pushed back the launch after judging it can respond to the market for the time being with its existing EV lineup.

Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schaefer (토마스 셰퍼) confirmed the delay at the FT Future of the Car event in London. "The lineup is great right now, so we don't need an electric Golf in 2028," he said. "We can respond sufficiently with the portfolio of vehicles we have," he added.

The electric Golf was to be developed on Volkswagen Group's next-generation SSP platform. The platform is being developed in collaboration with Rivian. The remarks suggested that the schedule for the SSP platform itself, as well as the electric Golf, could be pushed back again.

Volkswagen's shift in product strategy also ties in with its current electric hatchback lineup. The company unveiled a facelifted ID.3 earlier this year and renamed it the ID.3 Neo. The car is a hatchback similar in size to the current Golf and is seen as a model that can fill any gap even if the electric Golf is not introduced immediately. If the ID.3 Neo follows a typical product cycle, sales could continue through 2030.

Volkswagen has already introduced the ID. Polo and is preparing to launch the ID. Cross. A smaller ID.1 is also expected to join the lineup next year. With the range expanding from small electric cars to hatchbacks, it is seen as a judgment that the need to rush in adding an electric Golf has declined.

The order of SSP platform adoption is also being adjusted. Schaefer mentioned Audi as the first brand to use the platform, followed by Porsche and Volkswagen. Porsche had planned to apply SSP to its next flagship sport utility vehicle, but later shifted to a gasoline-focused PPC architecture.

Schaefer cited profitability as the reason SSP development is being delayed. He said that without securing sufficient scale, "we cannot reach profitability parity." He also said that as competition with Chinese brands intensifies, the company "had to do the math again" on materials and investment plans for the platform. It is interpreted as meaning that the cost structure and sales scale will be weighed before the pace of the shift to electrification.

Production plans have also been partly整理. The electric Golf is to be produced at the Wolfsburg plant in Germany when it is launched. The overhauled internal combustion Golf, by contrast, will move its production base to Mexico. Volkswagen is therefore expected to operate separate production systems for electric and internal combustion models in its next-generation Golf strategy.

Ultimately, the decision can be summed up as Volkswagen reshuffling its launch schedule in line with its existing ID lineup and readiness for the next-generation platform, rather than forcing the pace of its shift to EVs. Future points to watch center on when the SSP platform is actually applied and how the Golf name returns to the electric hatchback market after the ID.3 Neo.