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VW Slashes Output Again Volkswagen AG is doubling down on austerity. CEO Oliver Blume, in an interview with Manager Magazine, confirmed the group will cut another one million units of annual production capacity, bringing its global ceiling down from a once-ambitious 12 million cars to roughly 9 million. The move reflects a stark mismatch between output potential and real-world demand, with the company struggling to consistently exceed 10 million in annual sales since 2020. The capacity cuts inev

Slow-Selling Electric VWs As of September 2025, Volkswagen's slowest sellers are the performance models, the Golf GTI and Golf R (5,700 and 2,684 units, respectively), and its EVs, the ID.4 and ID. Buzz (22,125 and 4,934 units, respectively). Clearly, demand for battery-electric Volkswagens isn't there in America, and the automaker may have a solution: range-extended EVs. Range-extended EVs sit between pure electrics and traditional hybrids. You drive on battery power most of the time, but there

A Bold Report A recent story from the Financial Times has stirred up rather interesting headlines for the last few days. It was said that Volkswagen is considering a deal with an Israeli defense company to build components for the Iron Dome. Europe's largest automaker is allegedly in talks with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is a state-owned company that was founded as Israel's National R&D Defense Laboratory. The report claims several people close to the ma

Back in 2007, in a moment of because-we-can silliness that mass market car companies could only justify in those heady pre-financial crash days, Volkswagen decided to stuff one of its almighty W12 engines into the middle of a fifth-generation Golf GTI for a one-off show car. Why? Partly, it was a treat for GTI fans attending the now-dead GTI Treffen fan gathering in Wörthersee, Austria that year, but mainly, we suspect it was because some VW engineers had some free time and a spare W12 sitting a

Before the EV Era The Volkswagen Golf has played just about every role you can imagine: practical hatchback, hot hatch, diesel workhorse, plug-in hybrid, and even performance icon as the GTI and R. The next big leap is the all-electric ID. Golf, already teased as part of Volkswagen’s EV roadmap. But before the Golf goes fully electric, there’s one more chapter to add. Enter the new Golf Hybrid: Volkswagen’s first full hybrid take on its iconic hatchback. It lands alongside the T-Roc Hybrid and s

A few years ago, the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Honda Civic Type R were regularly trading blows in the battle for front-wheel-drive production car supremacy at the Nürburgring, but the fight cooled three years ago when the Civic Type R set a time of 7:44.881. The Golf GTI Edition 50 returned to the Nordschleife last year to become the fastest VW ever to take on the Green Hell, but its time of 7:46.13 still wasn't enough to take the outright FWD record, so Volkswagen has had another crack, and t

VW's Healing Era? The last couple of years have been rough on Volkswagen. Declining sales, loss of market share, and models that alienated the VW faithful and left critics underwhelmed heavily hampered the brand's efforts. But since the present CEO, Thomas Schäfer, joined the board in 2022, he's promised to steer the company back on the right course. That said, change isn't overnight, but we are seeing some of the corrective measures being applied little by little. More recently, the ID.3 Neo go

Everybody loves a hardcore Volkswagen Golf, and the latest is designed to seek blood at one of the most demanding racetracks in the world: the Nürburgring. Volkswagen has revealed a show car previewing its radical new racer that will race at the 2027 24 Hours of Nürburgring, and the interesting thing about this car is that, like the Golf R you and I can buy and drive, this will send its power to all four wheels. To help achieve that goal and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the R brand, the Vol

Volkswagen Group has increased its stake in Rivian Automotive to 15.9%, becoming its largest shareholder ahead of Amazon, which had been the top investor in the EV maker ever since its 2021 IPO. According to an SEC filing, Volkswagen’s US subsidiary has purchased 62.9 million new shares on April 30 at $15.90 per share, spending a total of approximately $1 billion in the process. You may be aware that Volkswagen Group is not doing great at the moment, and in light of that, the investment may seem

A Milestone Years in the Making Despite facing headwinds in the EV space, the Volkswagen Group has reached a global milestone by producing five million electric drive units. The achievement is spread across the company’s plants in Győr, Kassel, Tianjin, and Zuffenhausen, with the Kassel facility alone producing around 850,000 units last year – a 24 percent year-on-year increase. These electric drive units are used across the Volkswagen Group’s brands, including Volkswagen, Škoda, and Cupra—the l

With the Volkswagen ID Buzz and Audi A6 E-Tron skipping a model year in the US and the ID7 cancelled for the North American market altogether, it would be easy to assume that the Volkswagen Group is facing the same struggles selling electric cars as plenty of other brands – and that, to some extent, is true. However, following news just a few days ago that the VW brand has sold its 2 millionth all-electric car, the wider group has celebrated another major EV moment: across its entire portfolio o

Volkswagen has just delivered its 2 millionth all-electric vehicle, another marker in the company’s shift away from combustion engines. While the brand experimented with electric vans as far back as the 1970s, its modern EV push only really began in the early 2010s. Since then, the lineup has expanded quickly and reached buyers around the world. While impressive, Volkswagen can't compete with the Chinese carmaker BYD. ID Models Drive The Volume

The Pricing Finally Makes More Sense When Volkswagen finally launched the ID. Buzz in America, the reaction was a bit mixed. People still loved the idea of a modern electric Microbus, especially one that looked this close to the original Type 2. But once pricing entered the conversation, enthusiasm cooled off pretty quickly. The ID. Buzz started at over $60,000 in the US, which made it a tough sell for buyers expecting something more approachable from a vehicle built largely on nostalgia. That b

The ID.Polo's Time to Shine For the longest time, it was the Golf that got most of the sweet high-performance treatment from Volkswagen. There have been countless over the years, and we're not just talking about GTIs and Rs. As for the Polo, there have been few and far between. Some shining examples include the GT and G40, and let's not forget how it bagged four straight World Rally Championship titles for Volkswagen. Given its success in motorsport, one would think there would be a turbocharged

In 1976, the first-ever GTI appeared and would go on to set the standard for fun, affordable motoring. 50 years later, the first all-electric GTI aims to do the same. Volkswagen has revealed the ID. Polo GTI at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, where its wildest Golf yet will compete next year, and it looks like a lot of fun. On the front axle, a single electric motor produces 223 horsepower and 214 lb-ft of torque, enough to get from 0-62 mph in 6.8 seconds and up to a top speed of 109 mph. Yes, tha

Volkswagen’s newest China-only electric SUV, the ID.Unyx 08, is aiming squarely at domestic rivals with big range numbers and fast-charging tech the brand hasn’t yet rolled out in the U.S. The mid-to-large electric SUV will offer up to 730 kilometers (about 453 miles) of CLTC range and an 800-volt architecture, positioning it as the tech flagship of VW’s ID.UNYX sub-brand. Up To

The Scout Direct Sales Drama To say that dealers don't like direct-to-consumer sales is a massive understatement. Of course, the main reason is that it has the potential to put them out of business. With that, dealers have been filing case after case against Volkswagen of America for its direct sales plan for Scout Motors. Talk about birthing pains. If anything, the cases filed so far have been attracting far more attention to the brand than Scout's actual products. There have been a few wins fo

A Familiar SUV, Now With an Electrified Future Volkswagen just pulled the covers off the all-new 2027 Atlas at the New York Auto Show, putting it right back into the thick of the three-row SUV battle. It’s still going up against the Ford Explorer and Kia Telluride, but this time, VW seems to have a clearer plan for where the Atlas is headed. For now, the Atlas keeps its updated turbo 2.0-liter engine with 282 horsepower. The bigger changes are in the details. The design is crisper but still fami

Not the Warmest of Receptions It wasn't that long ago when Volkswagen's current CEO, Thomas Schäfer, called the ID.3 and ID.4 "not true Volkswagens." While it's something shocking to hear from a CEO, he was blunt and honest about those two models. Neither had the familiar feel of the company's products, and this was compounded by user experience issues and lukewarm reviews. The ID.4 is ending U.S production soon, and that name will likely be dropped as well. However, VW gave the ID.3 a chance to

Hunt for a Hot Hatch Begins Volkswagen has launched a new online game offering prizes that include a 2026 Golf GTI. The initiative forms part of the brand’s revived Drivers Wanted campaign – a slogan that dates back to the 1990s – and appears designed to reintroduce the ‘Drivers Wanted’ platform to a new audience in the U.S. The online game centers on subtle clues embedded within Volkswagen’s social media posts, which guide participants to a dedicated campaign website. The company is inviting a

Volkswagen is previewing a new pickup truck program aimed squarely at South America, with early teasers pointing to a compact, lifestyle-focused model that will sit below the Amarok in size and price. The company has not released full specs yet, but it has confirmed key planning details, including the vehicle’s name and where it will be built, as VW expands its regional lineup through the second half of the decade.

The Other Side of a Strong Year The Volkswagen ID.4 closed out 2025 strong with a 31-percent year-on-year sales increase to 22,373 units, but it is beginning the new year facing two separate recalls. One addresses a software-related issue, while the other is an expanded safety campaign tied to a hardware defect involving misaligned electrodes in the high-voltage battery cell modules. In severe cases, the defect can increase the risk of a battery fire. As a brief overview, Volkswagen began invest

The Jetta Soldiering On While most of the market has moved on from sedans, the Volkswagen Jetta is still hanging on. It’s not breaking sales records these days, but it’s one of the last few options for buyers who want a traditional compact sedan instead of a crossover or SUV. Even so, the Jetta sticks around. It fills a gap as a practical, budget-friendly sedan – something that’s getting harder to find in Volkswagen’s lineup as the brand shifts toward bigger vehicles and electric models. That’s

Another day, another EV. This time, however, it’s a massive range-extender Volkswagen, which is unlikely to find its way out of China. The brainchild of the VW-SAIC joint venture, the ID. Era 9X is a massive six-seater luxury SUV targeting the affluent Chinese, with its Range Rover-like minimalism, glitzy interior, and huge proportions. Volkswagen Aside from VW’s insistence on wei

Repurposing the Familiar It seems a new trend is emerging within the automotive industry, brands are using old or current nameplates and spinning them off into something new for certain markets. Some of these names come from familiar cars and, in some cases, are repurposed from long-dead models. Take the Honda Insight as an example, now revived as a Chinese electric crossover sold in Japan. Volkswagen has just made a move in that direction, taking the Jetta, a very familiar name for us in Americ