German brand says niche sedans and wagons need to be culled to make room for electric vehicles
Volkswagen Australia has announced it will discontinue two model lines and several model variants by the end of this year, including the VW Passat and Arteon as well as Tiguan diesels, the Polo manual and all Golf wagons including the R.
What’s more, the Volkswagen Golf R remains off sale as the German brand’s R division works to reduce a lengthy order bank, with about 700 vehicles produced for Australia so far in 2023 and around 350 remaining orders to fill. Volkswagen anticipates the Golf R hatch will go back on sale by the fourth quarter of this year.
The Volkswagen model cull comes as the brand prepares to launch eight electric vehicles in Australia within the next few years, starting with the VW ID.4 mid-size SUV and its coupe-style sibling, the VW ID.5, in the second quarter of 2024.
Sportier GTX versions of both mid-size electric SUVs will be available Down Under from launch, followed by the ID. Buzz electric people-mover and the facelifted ID.3 electric hatch including the GTX version, which is yet to be revealed.
Volkswagen Australia said in March that it would launch five EVs by 2025, including the ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5 in 2024, and the ID. Buzz and ID. Buzz Cargo in 2025.
As we’ve reported, Volkswagen says it will become Australia’s “biggest provider of zero-emissions mobility” within the next few years, despite the fact that – like Toyota – it’s yet to sell a single EV in this country and recently put a six-week hiatus on EV production in Europe following a downturn in demand there.
According to Volkswagen Australia’s head of passenger vehicles, Michal Szaniecki, there’s also been downturn in demand for traditional sedans and wagons from Aussies, who continue to favour SUVs and dual-cab 4×4 utes.
“We cannot expand forever and bringing eight new models means we have to make some rational choices [about] how big our portfolio should be for our customers and for our dealers,” Szaniecki told carsales.
The new-generation Passat therefore won’t be sold in Australia, where Volkswagen now describes both the Passat and Arteon as niche models and says that many customers have already made the transition to SUVs like the Tiguan Allspace, while the others will simply make the move to an electric ID model.
“100 per cent, from the numbers that we can judge from in our European market for instance, absolutely,” said Szaniecki when asked if demand for VW EVs was expected to be strong in Australia.
“[There is] no reason why we should keep Passat and Arteon anymore, and [so we will] have the space dedicated for ID family coming next year,” said Szaniecki.
“We are coming big with a big wave of EVs. We have to have the space. We have to have resources to support it. We have to have physical space at dealerships, and that is making our [model range] easier to pick from.”
While the Passat name will live on with a new generation in Europe, the future of the Arteon is less certain, with overseas reports suggesting it will no longer be produced.
Szaniecki says the larger VW ID.7 electric sedan – effectively an electric successor for the Arteon – is “100 per cent” on the cards for Australia.
“Especially because we are saying goodbye to our sedans and wagons, ID.7 presents a great opportunity. It’s not going to come early, next year or into 2025, but we’re at that opportunity for the next years.”
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Keyword: Volkswagen Passat, Arteon and Golf wagon axed amid EV rollout