• Volkswagen now plans to use names familiar to customers to identify its electric models.
The electric transition has forced automakers to make some risky decisions, regarding design languages for electric models, for instance, or else adopting a whole naming system for EVs.
Those have panned relatively well for some automakers – Hyundai and Kia come to mind – but less so for some others. Ask Mercedes-Benz, for example, about its EQ division.
German auto giant Volkswagen made the decision to adopt the ID letters followed by numbers or buzzwords, like, well, Buzz. Crucially, they abandoned past names when christening the new products. This is how we got the ID.4, ID.5 and so on.
Like some other carmakers as they wade into the electric waters, the company is changing tack when it comes to nomenclatures. Before the Munich auto show, Volkswagen revealed that its next urban electric vehicle for the European market will be called the ID. Polo. The Polo name has been used in Europe to identify a model since 1975. Sticking the ID in front clearly identifies it as electric, but the suffix is something consumers know well.
Originally, the upcoming model was to named the ID.2, then the ID.2all – not exactly something that rolls off the tongue. Now it’s ID. Polo. And the e sportier variant planned for it will carry the GTI letters.
VW also plans an ID. Cross model for Europe, a reference to the small T-Cross SUV sold there.
"Our model names are firmly anchored in people's minds. That's why we are transferring our well-known names to the future. The ID. Polo is just the beginning," said Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer in a statement.
Does that mean we might see an ID. Golf in the future? An ID. Tiguan? An ID. Passat? And why not an ID. Beetle? It's true that the company has sworn off using that name... but only fools never change their minds.