ID 2 SUV and potent R model on the cards
Brand will launch three PHEV and three electric SUVS by 2025
A HIGHER-RIDING ID 2X similar to Volkswagen’s Alltrack models is also under consideration. But with fourwheel drive on hold for now, it has yet to receive a definitive green light for production.
Launching a taller and more ‘rugged’ version of the ID 2 would allow Volkswagen to essentially mirror its current entry-level offering, comprising the Polo and technically identical T-cross. The now-axed ID Life concept was itself a similar size to the T-cross, and the most recent iteration of the Cupra Urban Rebel is of a similar shape and stature, so evidently the MEB Entry platform is being engineered to accommodate compact SUVS as well as hatchbacks.
The introduction of a four-wheel drive system in the ID 2 line-up also raises the intriguing possibility of an electric successor to today’s full-fat Golf R – which would provide Volkswagen with a baby hot EV to rival Abarth’s new 500e and the upcoming Alpine R5.
It has already been confirmed that Volkswagen’s R performance brand will be electric-only by 2030 and has
“several electric R models in the planning stages”.
As with the GTI nameplate, Volkswagen is committed to carrying its R lineage into the electric era, with boss Thomas Schäfer telling Autocar that using existing monikers can be more effective than creating new ones: “With a strong brand, you need to spend less [on marketing, and have better awareness] getting it out there.”
Any R-badged version of the ID 2 would necessarily be much more potent and performance-oriented than the front-drive standard car and GTI. Volkswagen earlier hinted at its plans for 4WD hot hatchbacks with the ID X concept – a lowered, lightened and stiffened version of the ID 3 with 329bhp, a 0-62mph time of 5.3sec and a dedicated drift mode.
Whether the smaller version of the MEB platform could accommodate this level of power and the associated chassis revisions remains to be seen, but ex-vw boss Ralf Brandstätter told Autocar that electric R cars will “take up many ideas” from the project.
FELIX PAGE
Jeep’s UK range will swell to seven models by the middle of the decade in a line-up that will include an electric rival to the Land Rover Defender.
The Stellantis-owned American brand revealed plans last year for a new range of electrified SUVS, starting with the Avenger this summer, ahead of its goal to go Ev-only in Europe in 2030.
After the electric Avenger, which will join the new Renegade 4xe and Compass 4xe plug-in hybrid models in UK showrooms, will come an all-new plug-in hybrid Grand Cherokee 4xe later this year.
By 2025, it will be joined by two new EVS: the Wagoneer S, a sporty large SUV, and the Defender-challenging Recon. Both of these will be based on Stellantis’s new STLA Large architecture.
The Recon will sit alongside the Wrangler, confirmed Jeep’s European boss, Antonella Bruno, but the two cars will have slightly different sizes and positions in the range.
“The Recon in Europe will be a white-space car,” said Bruno. “It’s a unique car, very boxy and very capable. It will sit in a lower part of the [market] segment to the Wrangler.” The Wrangler is offered outside of the UK as a plug-in hybrid, but Bruno said it wasn’t possible to engineer the current Wrangler 4xe in right-hand drive in this generation, so the off-roader will be the only Jeep not offered with an electrified drivetrain here by 2025.
Jeep ultimately sees itself clocking 300,000 sales in Europe per year. Its best annual result so far was 168,652 in 2018.
“At a global level, we want to be the 4x4 leader in electrification,” said Bruno.
She noted that despite Jeep’s 4x4 heritage and positioning, it wasn’t targeting Land Rover as a rival in the UK and Europe, instead citing the likes of Volkswagen and Mini as brands from which it could conquer sales.
Despite Jeep’s poor recent performance in the UK, Bruno believes the brand remains in good standing.
“The brand is incredibly well known [in the UK],” she said. “The UK customer is ready to accept our new products with the Avenger. Starting with the Avenger and Grand Cherokee, we’re coming back to the UK with the right line-up. There’s confidence and expectation that we will change our presence in the UK.”
Jeep took 7000 preorders for the Avenger in the UK before it went on sale in January, despite no customer test drives having taken place. Bruno said the Avenger recently being awarded the Car of the Year crown “will drive a lot of traction and be good for the entire Jeep line-up”.