Volkswagen says its best-selling SUV will go electric as the ID.Tiguan

Volkswagen’s best-selling SUV, the Tiguan, will live on in the electric age. The electric SUV will be built at its main plant in Wolfsburg and is tipped to be called the ID.Tiguan.

VW is set to launch an electric Tiguan SUV

At a works council meeting Thursday at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg headquarters, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in attendance, the auto company had some exciting revelations.

For one, VW announced that a new electric model will be built at the factory in 2026, an SUV similar in size and style to the brand’s best-selling Tiguan, a spokesperson confirmed to Handelsblatt. They also noted the electric Tiguan will be based on VWs improved MEB-Plus platform.

The news comes just a day after insider sources told Autocar that VW has completely redesigned its ID.2, hinting it could carry the iconic Golf branding into the EV era as the ID.Golf.

At the LA Auto show last year, VW CEO of passenger cars, Thomas Shafer, explained, “we have iconic brand names,” adding, “we will stick with the ID logic, but iconic models will carry a name.”

According to VW, many customers have requested that brands like Golf, GTI, and Tiguan be converted to electric. At the meeting, CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the automaker was working on it, explaining:

The Golf is an icon – a whole generation was named after it. That’s why we also want to bring vehicles like the Golf and the Tiguan into the electric age.

Although Blume didn’t share any other details, based on previous comments, it will likely be called the ID.Tiguan. The ID.Tiguan is slated to play a vital role in VWs strategy until its flagship Trinity EV goes into production.

The ID.Tiguan can fill Trinity EV’s role

Trinity was initially planned to launch in 2026, a project former CEO Herbert Diess touted would “revolutionize Volkswagen,” but was delayed due to software issues.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen unveiled a five-year investment plan to boost electric vehicle production and modernize its software. Despite this, new CEO Blume expects the project to come online by the end of the decade.

The electric Tiguan is slated to fill the gap, launching in 2026 instead. Daniela Cavallo, head of the works council, said, “we have now closed the gap that will arise in 2026.”

Since the company’s Wolfsburg plant is not being fully utilized due to chip shortages, VW will use it to electrify one of its most popular brand names to boost production and sales.

Unlike the Golf, VW’s Tiguan is a truly global car popular in many markets outside of Europe and can help carry the brand into the electric era.