New Volkswagen ‘ID.Lupo’ will be three cars rolled into one

Volkswagen has justified its decision not to build Skoda, SEAT or Cupra versions of its forthcoming city car based on the ID.Every1 concept, while insisting that such a model is “necessary” in a market very much under the threat from the unrelenting Chinese auto invasion.

Speaking exclusively with Auto Express, Kai Grünitz, Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Technical Development, said: “It is necessary to have an entry vehicle. If we don’t do that, there will be the Chinese doing that – and if the first users, who just got their licence, jump into a Chinese brand, they might stay with a Chinese brand.”

He admitted that building a small car on a shoestring wasn’t a straightforward task, even with the backing of the Volkswagen Group. “Is it easy? Below 20,000 Euros? No. Engineered in Europe, designed in Europe, built in Europe, with a supply chain in Europe? That’s really challenging,” he said.

Back in 2011, the VW Group launched a trio of petrol-powered city cars in the form of the SEAT Mii, Skoda Citigo and Volkswagen up!. But since then, the A-segment has shrunk beyond recognition, with manufacturers struggling to turn a profit as the market slowly shifts towards electrification. Today, used versions of these small VW Group cars remain popular with the last 2023 versions of the up! priced at around £13,000 on our Buy A Car service. 

Justifying VW’s decision not to repurpose the ID.Every1 design with a Cupra, SEAT or Skoda badge on the bonnet, Grünitz said: “When you have big segments like the [supermini] segment, it’s big enough to have maybe three brands. But when you look [at the city car market], it’s not big enough for three brands.

“Maybe the truth is that not every brand will be in every segment. So there’s one brand, and that is Volkswagen. We’ll do the volume we did with up!, with Mii and with Citigo,” Grünitz said.

While it’s unlikely, given the potential of the shrunken city-car market, that the ID.1 will outsell its predecessor by as many as three to one, Grünitz’s comments suggest VW is confident its new entry model can cater for customers who may have previously bought a SEAT or Skoda. 

It tallies with comments made by ex-Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths earlier this year. Speaking to Auto Express, Griffiths said: “When you go to the party, you have to pay the entrance. You want to be in a project? Then you need to pay your part of the development. You need to make your own specific investments.

“It certainly makes sense for the folks at Volkswagen,” Griffiths said. “I think the Group needs an entry brand, and a brand that can attract a younger generation and offer affordable electro-mobility.”

So why Volkswagen, and not SEAT, or even Skoda? “Because it’s in our name: people’s car”, Grünitz told us. “That’s why we decided to do that.”

What’s up! with the ID.1 and ID.Lupo names?

Recent news that Volkswagen will reinvent famous nameplates on its next-generation EVs – starting with the ID.Polo and possibly ID.Tiguan next year – could see the ‘ID.1’ reach production as the ID.Lupo; the Lupo nameplate not having appeared on a VW in more than two decades.

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