The Volkswagen Scirocco, or more accurately the third-generation car to bear that name, was introduced in 2008 and yet still looks rather stunning to this day. Getting on to being nearly a decade old at this point, it’s high time a replacement was at least on the cards for the near future.
For the past few years, Volkswagen had seemingly neglected the Scirocco, leaving its underpinnings as that of a 6th-generation Golf rather than updating it alongside the popular hatch, which is now in its 7th generation, recently upgraded to ‘gen-7.5’.
Thankfully, Volkswagen has had the Scirocco in mind, and should an AutoExpress report prove accurate, its next evolution sees it morphing into a sporty fully electric two-door and as the same hatch and coupe amalgam as its 2008 predecessor. It will be be built upon VW’s recently revealed MEB platform that will underpin some of the brand’s most ambitious first-generation EVs such as the I.D hatch and I.D Buzz Combi van.
In an exclusive chat with their research and development boss Mr Frank Welsch, he reveals some interesting insights into the gestation process that goes into a new model, particularly the consideration given to a successor to one of the most desirable names in the automaker’s history.
Welsch said that Volkswagen were very sensitive about an all-new Scirocco, making sure the resulting car - whatever it was - kept true to the resonance of what the model represents, that it would only belong on a “sporty two-door coupe.”
He also gave some words of assurance to those feel that sporty cars such as the Scirocco have been marginalised (and will continue to be) in favour of SUVs and crossovers like the Tiguan and newly revealed T-Roc. While sporty variants of those high riders are most likely coming down the pipe, Welsch dismissed them filling any sort of gap left by the now decade-old 3rd-gen Scirocco.
“You don’t buy a Scirocco if you have a family,” he said “[T-Roc] is a four-door, and is absolutely perfect for small families. If you tell someone, ‘This is a Scirocco’, they have a clear idea of what this should be and of what it should look like,” he said. “If it had totally different proportions from the current car we would not call it Scirocco. It would not fit. It’s like having a new Tiguan concept and calling it ‘Golf’.”
Since it’s based on VW’s EV-specific MEB platform, early extrapolations can be made based on the details given for the I.D hatch that was revealed at last year’s Paris Motor Show. This Golf-sized five-door has a predicted range of between 400- and 590km from a single charge. While that car’s single electric motor would produce 125kW of power, the Scirocco will likely adopt a dual motor setup.
The report speculated that 224kW may very well be Volkswagen’s target, and given the ample and instantaneous torque electric motors provide, the Scirocco will no doubt be far more potent under foot than the older turbo-petrol-powered car.
However, given that a production version of the I.D concept is scheduled to kick off Volkswagen’s big EV push upon its 2020 debut, an electrified coupe bearing the Scirocco name may only follow along in 2021 at the earliest.
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