Volkswagen Golf GTI to go electric, ID.3 facing the axe

The Volkswagen Golf GTI hot hatch is set to enter the electric era – with the next-generation, electric Golf range due later this decade – according to UK magazine Top Gear.

Kai Grunitz, Volkswagen's head of technical development, told the outlet the next-generation Golf range – set to go electric when it arrives in 2028 – will be followed by a GTI version.

The electric Golf range is reportedly planned to replace Volkswagen’s ID.3 – the company's current Golf-sized electric hatchback – as the two models compete in the same category, and the Golf is a stronger name with 50 years of history.

“It's the heart of our brand. We won't kill the Golf,” Mr Grunitz told Top Gear.

The Volkswagen tech boss was speaking at the announcement of the ‘Mark 8.5’ Golf – due in Australian showrooms in late 2024 or early 2025 – which VW has confirmed will be the final petrol-powered Golf.

“If we bring an electric vehicle with the name Golf, it has to be [a] real Golf. It has to look like a Golf. It has to be affordable like a Golf. It has to be [capable] like a Golf. And there has to be a GTI.”

The move would see the Golf GTI follow the ID.2 GTI – an electric successor to the petrol-powered Volkswagen Polo GTI due in 2026 or 2027, which is not yet confirmed for Australia – as the brand electrifies the famed GTI badge.

The electric Golf GTI is expected to be joined by the high-performance Golf R, also using electric power.

The Golf name is far more recognisable to customers, but Grunitz said an electric Golf would not simply be a renamed ID.3.

“We’ve started to work on a fully-electric Golf. We have concrete ideas of how it will look like, but we will see how the market develops. There will be an overlap [between ID.3 and electric Golf],” Grunitz said.

“There is not enough space to have two or three different models fitting to the same customer.”