Volkswagen has confirmed what unions already leaked at the beginning of the year: its facelifted ID. 4 will return as the ID. Tiguan. The German carmaker has released camouflaged photos ahead of the world premiere in October, around the Paris Motor Show.
Change in strategy
As we reported back in January, IG Metall first let the name slip, and now the change is official. As Volkswagen converges its marketing efforts between combustion-engined models and fully electric ones, the ID. 4 takes over the badge from the Tiguan. A model it technically doesn’t share one screw with.
A similar shift is evident at Mercedes, where the idea of an independently marketed electric line-up has been abandoned to transfer more heritage to the new energy models. BMW never followed this course, and proved more successful at selling battery models.
VW introduced the ID numbering with the ID. 3 in 2018, then spent seven years watching buyers fail to form an emotional bond with it. The ID. Polo debuted the change, and the Tiguan, on sale since 2007 and VW’s best-selling model globally since 2017, with more than eight million sold, was the obvious next step.
End for the ID. 5
The ID. 5, the coupé-styled derivative launched alongside the ID. 4, is not being renamed but will be quietly retired with no replacement announced. Volkswagen is on a course to simplify its range to cut complexity and boost profitability.
VW insists the new badge is much more than a sticker exercise and compares the change to the step from Golf Mk5 to Mk6. In other words, substantial enough to call it a new generation. In reality, the evolution will land in between.
More robust looks
As the camouflage pictures mildly show, the new direction will be pronounced in a quite thorough redesign with the ID. 4’s blobby styling giving way to the squarer look from the ID. Polo and ID. Cross. This language refers to Volkswagen’s heyday.
The interior will get a 15-inch touchscreen borrowed from the combustion Tiguan and sits above a bank of physical controls, while the much-hated touch sliders disappear. It has a proper one-pedal drive mode, something the ID.4 never offered. The core points – driving position, space, visibility – carry over unchanged.
LFP for more accessibility?
Battery details are still under wraps, but the expectation is a new entry-level 58 kWh LFP pack alongside the existing 77 kWh unit, mirroring the ID.3 Neo. Schäfer has called LFP cells a “major step forward in terms of cost” for VW.
That matters more than the new name: cheaper cells are how entry versions get closer to Chinese rivals on price while protecting margins.
Volkswagen is gradually building up momentum for its electric range. In Europe, it overtook Tesla as the region’s top BEV seller last year, with deliveries up more than 50%. The factory in Emden, for which guarantees have been canceled under the Future 2030 revival plan, will build the ID. Tiguan through 2031.
