ID.4 REBORNAS ID. TIGUAN

Heavy update for VW EV will bring with it a fresh, but familar name

- Richard Ingram

THE Volkswagen ID.4 will be so thoroughly updated next year that it will warrant a completely new identity, Auto Express can confirm. The changes will be so significant, it'll be reincarnated as the Volkswagen ID. Tiguan – despite the ID.4 having only been on sale for four years.

“ID.4 is our major-selling vehicle; it has to be in that space,” the CEO of VW Passenger Cars, Thomas Schäfer, told us at the Munich Motor Show. He said the car “has to be updated to [Volkswagen’s] new design language”, describing the next-generation family SUV as “a fantastic car”.

He added: “The ID.4 will get the MEB+ [platform], with the new battery, the cells; LFP technology and all that is coming in. It's going to be a huge step up from today's car.”

When pressed on whether or not these changes would see the ID.4 reborn as the ID. Tiguan - following in the footsteps of the ID.2all, which will reach production later this year as the ID. Polo - Schäfer smiled, shrugged and said: “That hasn’t been confirmed - that would be speculation.” Yet in a separate interview, head of VW Design Andreas Mindt said: “In my opinion, you have to have names. The original Beetle was the Volkswagen 1200; it’s not a name. But the audience immediately gave it a name. These names are so human; you can humanise them - this is what we want to chase; this human element on a Volkswagen. I love it.”

Assuming that the ID.4 will be rebadged ID. Tiguan, plus factoring in previous comments from a Volkswagen spokesperson that, in terms of design, “everything on the outside will be different; the swooping styling will be cleaner”, our exclusive images preview how the next-generation car could look.