Volkswagen Trinity, VW’s EV flagship, not before 2032?

The Volkswagen Trinity was once regarded as the VW Group’s first upcoming electric flagship and was due to be launched in 2026. The launch seems to have been postponed to 2032, and the first VW product on the new SSP platform could be the full electric Golf.

It was already clear that the 2026 date could not be met due to software problems at VW’s Cariad subsidiary, and that a premiere was more likely to occur toward the end of the decade. The latest news indicates that it could be significantly delayed again.

The Trinity was designed under former VW boss Herbert Diess as a flagship model to demonstrate the new platform’s capabilities and lean and efficient production.

However, following the CEO change to Oliver Blume in the autumn of 2022, the Trinity project was radically redesigned. The originally designed electric saloon became a crossover. As initially planned, the Trinity will be built in Zwickau instead of a new plant in Wolfsburg-Warmenau.

Planning round in November

The German newspaper Handelsblatt says it has been able to view ramp-up plans for the SSP (Scalable Systems Platform). These documents show that production of the Trinity is scheduled to start at the end of 2032.

However, the timing for the start of production (SOP) mentioned in the report is only a management plan for the time being: several insiders stated that the usual VW procedure will be followed. In other words, amended production plans will be decided in autumn during the so-called planning round, not before.

The ramp-up plans also indicate that the production of other models will be postponed. “The successor to the VW ID.4, which is already on sale today, and another electric SUV will be produced later than planned,” writes Handelsblatt. The electric SUV is said to be the T-Sport, with production scheduled to start in 2031.

First SSP EVs in 2028?

According to the report, the decision’s background includes not only known but also ongoing software problems. On the one hand, the new model launches should better align with the currently weaker electric vehicle demand.

On the other hand, VW’s current cost-cutting program initiated by CEO Oliver Blume could be to blame. Investments in new models can be stretched out while existing vehicle platforms are being used for longer.

As a result, the launch of the SSP is to be pushed back a little further than VW’s top management announced earlier. According to the documents, the electric Golf successor ID.Golf will go into production in autumn 2029, but it is said that the launch could be brought forward a little. By doing so, the ID.Golf is to be the first SSP-based model of the VW core brand.

However, according to the latest information, the Audi A4 e-tron will be the first model based on the SSP in the entire Group. The Ingolstadt-based premium brand inside the VW Group has recently updated and renamed the well-known A4 mid-range combustion model into A5 to make room for the new model logic: even numbers for electric cars and odd numbers for combustion cars.

However, it will probably be the end of 2028 before Audi uses this and launches an electric A4 Tron on the market. Until then, Audi will not have an electric counterpart, such as the BMW i4.

Longer service life for models

VW’s best-selling EV, the current ID.4/ID.5, based on the MEB platform, is due for a facelift in 2026 and will presumably be converted to the more advanced MEB+ platform. The recent investment in Rivian is expected to help. At the same time, the Americans are also asked to accelerate the software update of the larger PPE platform (underpinning the Porsche Macan and Audi Q6/A6 Tron, for example).

For the investments in developing the MEB+ and PPE+ to be worthwhile, the models based on them must have a particular service life. This is one of the reasons why the new successor to the ID.4 based on the SSP will not be launched on the market until 2030, not 2028, as had been planned earlier. VW insiders told Handelsblatt that, as with the ID. Golf, the successor of the ID.4  could also be brought forward slightly, if necessary, eventually to 2029.