Volkswagen has a plan to turn things around
Volkswagen has been struggling these past few years, but now the German automaker has a plan to become competitive again.
There’s no denying that Volkswagen has been on a downward trend over the past few years, and now the automaker themselves recognizes that fact. With that recognition comes pieces put in place to fix the problem. Volkswagen has a plan to catch up to competitors, and it all starts in Wolfsburg, Germany.
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Volkswagen plans to launch nine new models by 2027
Chinese competitors and electrification have put Volkswagen between a rock and a hard place. In order to catch up to the competition, Volkswagen has a strategy they’re calling Triple A, which stands for Accelerate, Attack, and Achieve.
In order to catch up to the competition, Volkswagen plans to put nine new models on the road by 2027. So far, VW has confirmed two smaller, more affordable models will join the ID. family, namely the ID.2, expected to arrive in 2026, and the ID.1, expected in 2027. Volkswagen 
Volkswagen plans to unveil the new ID.1 at the beginning of March. The upcoming model will feature an all-electric powertrain and start at around €20,000, or roughly $20,900 USD. Employees at the Wolfsburg plant will see the upcoming model before the general public.
“An affordable, high-quality, and profitable electric Volkswagen from Europe for Europe – that's the Champions League of automotive engineering!” said Thomas Schäfer, CEO of VW Passenger Cars. Volkswagen
The Wolfsburg plant will remain the main stage for Volkswagen’s electrification plans. In order to make way for new technology to produce electric models, Volkswagen is moving production of the Golf to Mexico.
The upcoming all-electric Golf, however, will be built in Wolfsburg with help from Rivian. It’s expected to return towards the end of the decade, marking the model's comeback after VW ended production of the original e-Golf back in December 2020.
Related: Volkswagen's manufacturing facilities prepare for production cuts
Can VW catch up?
As it currently stands, Volkswagen certainly isn’t in a bad spot. The German automaker has the ID. family in their pocket, which has been one of the automaker's best-selling models. Since the ID. brand hit the market in 2019, more than 1.35 million models have left dealer lots under new ownership, just over a quarter of which were the ID.3. Last year, the VW ID.3 sold 383,100 EVs globally.
Currently, Volkswagen only offers the ID.4 and ID. Buzz in the United States. Given how much Americans love their larger vehicles, it’s not a bad offering by any means. Unfortunately, the ID. Buzz was met with a lukewarm reception, largely due to its price. On the bright side, Volkswagen is expected to bring the ID.8, an all-electric three-row SUV, to the United States in the next few years.
Volkswagen also offers more all-electric models in Europe and other markets, including China. In 2024, just over 149,000 VW ID.3 models were sold, while the ID. Buzz sold just under 30,000 units. The VW ID.4, the standard SUV version, and ID.5, the coupe model, saw the best sales of VW’s ID. family, coming in at 182,000 units.
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With the introduction of two smaller, more affordable all-electric models, Volkswagen is set to make inroads with a new demographic of consumers. On top of that, a larger all-electric three-row SUV will give American drivers another model to choose from.
Final thoughts
Volkswagen is currently in phase one of its Triple-A strategy. With plenty of all-new EVs on the horizon, the German automaker is positioning itself to battle with Chinese automakers on a global scale in the near future. James Lipman
While Volkswagen still has some catching up to do, the fact that it has not only avoided closing plants but is also setting them up for the future is a positive indicator. On the other hand, by the time its new EVs launch, the competition will be even fiercer. There’s not much left to do but wait and see what the German automaker has in store.
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