Volkswagen
The European market’s number one brand seems almost unassailable in its home region, market share for EFTA and EU countries plus the UK being 10.9 percent as at the end of the first nine months. That’s up from 10.5 per cent in the prior period, ACEA data show, translating to 1,086,591 passenger vehicles compared to 1,024,001 between 1 January and 30 September 2024. Toyota, the nearest challenger, saw its deliveries drop by 6.6 per cent YoY to 643,543 units.
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Things are still good for VW in China too, though the days of its dominance there may be gone forever, both BYD and Geely now regularly outselling the brand. As in Europe, Toyota comes next but is a fair way behind Volkswagen year to date. And with both cars and SUVs, including many EVs and electrified models, being the most popular vehicles, VW still seems well positioned to stay ahead of Toyota.
Back in Europe, the VW range has one main weakness insomuch as it presently lacks an A segment model. Such a car is however, coming. Officially stated as being due to enter production at the end of 2027, the name isn’t yet known but 20,000 euro is the target price for the base variant. The ID. Fox, ID.Lupo or perhaps ID. up! will be produced at VW Autoeuropa in Palmela near Setúbal in Portugal. Heralded by the ID. EVERY1 which was shown in March this year, the little five-door EV will, like that concept, have MEB as its platform.
MEB+ / MEB Entry
The future entry level electric car for Europe will have the same basic architecture as two B segment vehicles (‘MEB+’ ‘MEB Entry’), each of which will be launched before the A segment car. A hatchback comes first, followed by an SUV, each of which will be front-wheel drive.
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By GlobalDataSlightly smaller than today’s Polo though with a longer wheelbase, the ID. Polo goes on sale in 2026 followed by a GTI later in the year. The base price will be less than 25,000 euro, Volkswagen stated in February. We saw a preview at the Munich in September with VW also confirming a family of four models across three brands for the ‘Electric Urban Car Family’: ID. Polo, ID.Cross, Skoda Epiq and Cupra Raval – each was displayed in pre-production for at the same show.
Another debut at the Munich Mobility Show was the new T-Roc, set to become a potential huge seller for Volkswagen. Deliveries commence in November with Germany the first market. T-Roc 2 should have a seven-year life cycle, its mid-cycle restyle being due in the second half of 2029. The convertible will not be replaced.
Volkswagen’s first HEV
Now more than 12 centimetres longer than the outgoing T-Roc, the 4,373 mm SUV is the first Group vehicle for a 1.5-litre series hybrid powertrain. Incredibly, petrol-electric HEV systems are a rarity for the Volkswagen Group, the company hitherto having a preference for MHEV, PHEV and EV systems.
While there is no electric T-Roc, certain of VW’s other EVs are all set for changes and updates fairly soon. That includes a major facelift for the ID.3 in 2026, the model being set to remain in production until 2029. Yet to be confirmed is the idea that a plug-in next generation Golf will become the effective successor towards the end of the decade.
Also in 2026, the long-lived Touareg goes out of production, as does the T-Roc Cabriolet, the historic former Karmann Osnabrück plant which makes the two-door model being scheduled to be closed too.
Leveraging SAIC and XPeng platforms
Meanwhile next year SAIC-VW should launch a PHEV Volkswagen sedan or fastback. To be derived from the Roewe D7, this model might be exported too. And electrification is clearly the name of the game for VW China in 2026, with not one but two EVs for China due to be revealed, each one a JV with XPeng. The platform for both will be the Chinese OEM’s G9 Edward, production set to take place at an XPeng plant in Hefei.
India is a market where VW would very much like to be a far bigger brand than it is. To that end, a special electric SUV is coming towards the end of 2026 though it might not be in production there until 2027. The platform is MEB21G, Chakan will be the manufacturing base, exports are planned and Skoda will also have its own closely related model.
South America – more Chinese connections?
Looking at South America – VW is especially strong in Brazil thanks to the Nivus, Virtus, Taos and Saveiro – Argentina is the focus of fresh investment, despite the ongoing challenges faced by that country’s issues with inflation. Come 2027 and a fresh Pacheco-built Amarok will be launched but this pick-up will not be part of the VW-Ford LCVs alliance. Instead the new vehicle is said to be SAIC-based. Logically, that would mean the same platform as the latest Maxus Interstellar X and LDV Terron 9.
Other models set to appear by decade-end or into the early 2030s include the next generation of SAIC-VW’s big selling Lavida Pro in 2028, a successor for India’s Taigun (2029/2029, MQB A037 being the platform), a new ID.6 with a fresh name (2029) and of course the electric Golf. The last of these is presently scheduled to enter production in October 2029. One year later comes the ID.7’s successor, the name modified to either ID. Passat or possibly ID. Arteon. The next ID.4 also gains a name suffix, it too being due in 2030.
AUDI (China-only JV)
Even though profit is always way more important than sales volume Audi would surely love to be bigger than BMW and Mercedes the world over. It lags both in Germany and greater Europe. As for Audi of America, during the first three quarters of 2025, US sales are less than half that of not only rival German brands but Lexus too.
Where Audi does lead is China. Moreover, a new strategy of adding the all-in-caps AUDI brand is proving to be a winner. The joint venture with SAIC is for aggressively priced electric cars, each one dramatically proportioned and underpinned by the partners’ ADP (Advanced Digitised Platform). An additional sedan and SUV will be added in 2026 and 2027, joining the recently launched E5 Sportback. Will there be exports
Audi
A single model which positions Audi in the B and C hatchback segments – also eventually potentially replacing the A3 – is believed to be now fewer than 12 months away from launch. Aimed primarily at European countries, the A2 e-tron (name TBC) could also be joined by an A2 (petrol-powered) alternative. This follows a statement by Audi’s CEO seven months ago, noting a shift in policy, whereby combustion engines will now remain available beyond 2032.
Also around the 4.3-4.6 m long mark, an electric sports car inspired by all three generations of the TT is coming. Due to arrive in 2027 and said to look a lot like the recent Concept C (see image), this roadster will use the SSP Sport platform. Build will be in Germany at the Böllinger Höfe plant.
There is no longer an A4, the current A5 series being the successor for that model as well as the previous A5. Revealed in 2024 and manufactured at Neckarsulm, this was the first model for PPC (Premium Platform Combustion) which has longitudinally-mounted engines like MLB, the architecture it steadily replaces. The life cycle for this D segment hatchback should be seven to eight years, so a facelift would be due in 2028/2029.
A6 and A6 e-tron – not the same car
Available in Europe and elsewhere since earlier in 2025, the A6 Sedan and Avant will be joined by a new A6 L in 2026, this being an extended length sedan developed especially for China. All will be facelifted in 2029 and replaced in 2032. As for the A6 e-tron, this is also a recent arrival but it is a different model, being a RWD/AWD electric hatchback and estate. mid-life refreshes and replacement dates should be very similarly timed to those of the ICE cars, however.
Understandably delayed several times, replacements for the A8 and S8 remain some years away. These cars likely will go electric for the next generation but combustion power will surely also now feature due to the US market. As for launch timing, look to late 2027 or early 2028. Which means a second facelift for the existing A8/S8 within the coming months.
Q models
New in mid-2025, the Q3 should be around in its current form until the arrival of a fourth generation in 2032. This would be following a 2029 facelift. Its larger and electric-only brother the Q4 e-tron is meanwhile soon to be facelifted, the second evolution of the model then set to arrive in 2029.
One big reason why Audi’s SUVs sell so well in China especially is the Q5. Available as both the Q5 SUV and Q5 Sportback, it is based on PPC and therefore has a lot in common with the equally new A5. Build is in Changchun and San José Chiapa with both the Chinese and Mexican factories set to produce the models until 2033, some three years after scheduled facelifts in 2029/2030.
New in 2024, the Q6 e-tron and its Sportback derivative will be due for facelifts in early 2028. There should also be revisions to motors and battery packs, with their successors to follow in 2031/2032. Meanwhile China’s Q6L e-tron and Q6L Sportback e-tron, manufactured by Audi FAW NEV Company at its then-new Changan plant since December 2024 will also be replaced in the early 2030s.
The next big earners: future Q7 and Q8
How does Audi intend to replace the Q7? Most had presumed it would become electric-only but that is no longer believed to be the case. The next generation is soon to be revealed, the present model being close to an extraordinary eleven years old.
Far younger, having only been launched in 2018 and facelifted five years later, is the Q8. The second evolution is said to be coming in 2027 and will share most of its powertrains – along with a production line – with the imminent Q7. The next SQ8 and RS Q8 likely won’t arrive until 2028.
Will there be a direct replacement for the e-tron GT? This is another model programme which is presently somewhat in flux due to the volatility in demand for high-priced EVs. Originally twinned with the second generation Porsche Taycan, development is now said to have shifted towards offering IC-power where once both models were to be electric-only. The launch date is now believed to have changed from 2028 to 2029.
