Overview
- Volkswagen suspended preliminary development of the all‑electric ID. Golf at its Wolfsburg headquarters on Friday, saying the company cannot afford the work for now.
- The pause is part of a wider cost‑cutting drive tied to a restructuring plan that includes up to 100,000 job cuts and possible closures of German plants.
- A company memo flagged a roughly €300 million shortfall at Wolfsburg and the group reported its largest quarterly loss in more than a decade, prompting the spending freeze.
- The ID. Golf was planned as an early model on the new Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) being developed with partners including Rivian, so the delay raises risks to the platform’s rollout and timing.
- The decision has sharpened tensions with the works council and union IG Metall, which is considering strikes from January 1, and could affect jobs and investment at Volkswagen’s German operations.