Headlines
Volkswagen draws on Polo brand name for affordable hatchback EV
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Volkswagen unveils the ID.Polo, an affordable electric hatchback, to compete with Chinese EVs. Priced under 25,000 euros, it launches in 2026.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Volkswagen on Wednesday said it would use the Polo brand name for its planned compact hatchback electric vehicle, previously dubbed ID.2, a key model in the carmaker's efforts to stave off Chinese competition.
The ID.Polo, expected to be priced below 25,000 euros ($29,267) in its no-frills version, will be presented at the IAA auto show in Munich next week although the car will still be camouflaged ahead of its official launch in 2026, Volkswagen said.
"Our model names are firmly anchored in people's minds," Thomas Schaefer, head of the Volkswagen brand and member of the carmaker's management board, said in a statement.
"That's why we're moving our well-known names into the future. The ID.Polo is just the beginning."
European carmakers have come under growing pressure to develop affordable electric vehicles, as cheaper Asian rivals, including China's BYD, are increasingly muscling into the local market.
Volkswagen's finance chief Arno Antlitz earlier this year said that the ID.2 could be the carmaker's first battery-electric vehicle to make equal margins to its combustion-engine equivalent.
The Polo brand accounted for 472,000, or nearly 10%, of the Volkswagen brand's auto sales last year.
($1 = 0.8542 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, editing by Rachel More)
The ID.Polo is expected to be priced below 25,000 euros ($29,267) in its no-frills version.
The ID.Polo will be presented at the IAA auto show in Munich next week, although it will still be camouflaged.
The Polo brand accounted for 472,000 units, or nearly 10%, of Volkswagen's auto sales last year.
Volkswagen aims to develop affordable electric vehicles to compete with cheaper Asian rivals, particularly in the local market.
Volkswagen's finance chief Arno Antlitz mentioned that the ID.2 could be the carmaker's first battery-electric vehicle to achieve equal margins to its combustion-engine equivalent.
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