Volkswagen’s culling of 75 models by 2035 was inevitable, says CEO

The Volkswagen Group is set to cull 75 models from its entire line-up within the next 10 years, but the streamlining of its range will happen through a “natural transition”, according to VW’s CEO, with some models to be lost due to the move towards electrification.

In September, the Volkswagen Group announced it had signed off plans to axe half of its model line-up, reduce model variation by 75 per cent and cut 100,000 jobs as part of the automotive giant’s ‘Future Plan 2030’. This aims to reduce operating costs, while subsequently boosting operations in North America and China.

Speaking to Auto Express at the 2026 Paris Motor Show, Volkswagen brand CEO Thomas Schäfer explained how the process of eliminating certain models will happen: “We started this debate [about halving the VW Group line-up] mainly because of the 2035 end of combustion engines in Europe.

“It’s not a surprise that in 2035 you will not have an ID. Polo and a Polo, or an ID. Cross and a T-Cross, and so on,” he said. “So you automatically halve it. We were working on what is the ideal portfolio [for Volkswagen] in 2035.

“We’ve done that, we’ve done the same with Skoda, the same with Cupra. We’ve just aligned all of that, and out came a top portfolio for 2035, which is only half the size.” 

The loss of certain models and reduction of those brands’ line-ups “wasn’t a problem” and didn’t cause much drama, Schäfer told us – especially the loss of the T-Roc Cabriolet, which the VW boss didn’t seem too sad about considering how few are sold. “It was actually a natural transition and a reorganisation of the portfolio to the most profitable products.”

“This wasn’t a miracle, but the complication came when you try this with the other brands – Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini – because 2035 for them is not necessarily a threshold [for stopping ICE cars].” We are curious to see how this streamlining will affect these more premium marques over the next few years.

In the future, Schäfer tells us, new models will be managed in “synergy groups” so that “we are not all fishing in the same spot at the same time”. He explained that “once we're clear that two or three brands will have a vehicle in that size, then we will cluster them and we give the responsibility to one brand to manage,” with each marque pitching their ideas for the jobs.

The Volkswagen Group’s new ‘Electric Urban Car Family’ that consists of the Cupra Raval, VW ID. Polo, Skoda Epiq and VW ID. Cross perfectly embodies this more streamlined product strategy. SEAT/Cupra managed and led the project, with the cars all based on the same MEB+ architecture and sharing more than 80 per cent of their components, yet they have different, clearly defined identities. 

There’s also the new VW ID. up! electric city car coming next year, which will sit on a tweaked version of the ID. Polo’s platform. However, Volkswagen is set to be the only brand to offer a car in that class, with no plans at the moment for a Skoda, Cupra or Audi sister model, due to the small size of this market. 

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