Volkswagen is getting ready to launch an electrical scorching hatch sporting the GTI badge in 2026, design chief Andreas Mindt has revealed, although it will not be a Golf GTI.

In an Instagram publish made earlier this week, and first noticed by Motor1, Mindt stated the primary GTI, based mostly on the Mk1 Golf, was unveiled in 1975, and that in 2026 an electrical model of the long-lasting hatch will likely be launched.

It is doable the automotive will likely be proven a 12 months earlier to mark the 50th anniversary of the unique Golf GTI’s reveal.

Included in Mindt’s publish was a sketch exhibiting the unique Golf GTI along with VW’s ID.GTI idea unveiled in September and already confirmed by VW for manufacturing.

Instagram publish by Andreas Mindt – Dec. 2023

The ID.GTI idea is not more likely to be badged as a Golf GTI as idea’s subcompact dimensions level to it previewing a alternative for the Polo GTI, simply because the associated ID.2all idea proven in March doubtless previews a alternative for the common Polo.

Check mules for the manufacturing ID.2all utilizing modified our bodies of the bigger ID.three have been noticed testing. The car, and sure any GTI model, will use a brand new platform derived from the present MEB design present in autos just like the ID.three and ID.4. The brand new platform, dubbed MEB Entry, is shorter than the common MEB platform and incorporates a single motor on the entrance.

Volkswagen ID.GTI Idea

Within the ID.2all, the motor is rated at 222 hp, and the idea’s battery is claimed by VW to ship 280 miles on the WLTP take a look at cycle used abroad. A decrease determine would end result utilizing the stricter EPA cycle. VW hasn’t supplied any specs for the associated ID.GTI idea however stated it additionally featured a single motor on the entrance.

Crossover followers may stay up for an MEB Entry-based providing from VW in 2026.

VW in September stated it’s planning an electrical Golf, and this mannequin will doubtless supply a GTI variant, although the electrical Golf will not arrive till 2028 on the earliest, as that’s when its SSP platform is scheduled to be prepared. Meaning an electrical Golf GTI, the automotive we historically consider as a GTI, might be the second EV to put on the GTI badge.

Satirically, the I in GTI signifies gasoline injection, a expertise that clearly will not characteristic within the electrical GTI. Equally, Porsche makes use of a Turbo badge on its Taycan, a reputation that additionally signifies a expertise for ICE autos and never EVs.