► VW’s GTX sub-brand won’t last
► Current-generation of cars will use nameplate
► Next generation ones likely won’t
VW’s all-electric GTX sub-brand is likely to be axed after the cars that currently use the nameplate have been replaced.
Brand boss Thomas Schafer discussed the future of the GTX badge during the 2023 IAA Munich motor show and said there would be ‘a transition.’ Schafer says: ‘GTI is the two-wheel drive brand, and R is the four-wheel drive brand. GTX was just an interim battery-electric only one, and we probably want to merge that in the long run.’
‘With the GTX models that we’ve introduced, they will run for a while and they’re already doing very well – they’re four-wheel drive and nicely differentiated,’ adds Schafer, ‘but, going forward, we’ve taught the world what GTI is, and we’ve taught the world what an R is. It would be ludicrous to re-educate people.
The GTX brand currently exists on the ID.4 and ID.5 electric SUVs, and have largely been described as a lukewarm performance brand rather than one with particularly potent power or handling engineering. And those models include a future ID.3 GTX and ID.7 GTX (which have been teased previously) and an ID.Buzz GTX which has been spotted testing.
The news comes as the GTI brand is confirmed to be going electric, with the first car being an ID.2 GTI launching from late 2026 onwards. We’ve had our first preview via the ID.GTI Concept revealed during the IAA Munich show.
R, meanwhile, won’t truly resurface until the introduction of the VW Group SSP platform, which launches from 2028.