Good Call: Volkswagen Won’t Reuse Old Nameplates on SUVs

Volkswagen has plenty of storied nameplates sitting in its attic, but unlike some of its competitors, it’s not going to re-launch them in segments they never belonged to. If the Corrado name returns from the grave, it’ll end up on a coupe rather than on a crossover. But while we’d love to see another Corrado, the German brand confirmed it’s not currently in a position to branch out into niche or low-volume models.

“The Scirocco is a very special model. I can name a few others, but if it doesn’t reflect the DNA of the original car in a really strong sense, then [we would] rather give it a new name and do something else,” affirmed Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer in a recent interview with British magazine Autocar.

Schäfer’s comments come in the midst of a retro revival, especially in the European market. Ford caused a great deal of consternation in the enthusiast community by putting the Capri nameplate on an electric, calzone-shaped hatchback that straddles the line between a fastback and a crossover. Ironically, the new Capri rides on the MEB platform that Volkswagen developed to underpin its range of EVs. Ford’s Mustang Mach-E is, arguably, another way of not-so-subtly bending a nameplate’s heritage for marketing purposes.

GTI, like Scirocco, is another nameplate that’s dear to Schäfer’s heart. “See, by the feedback of the consumer, it’s a mistake. If you call something what it is not, be very careful. Say, if it’s a GTI, it better be a GTI. It’s our model. It’s got to be true to the genes,” he said.

With that in mind, it won’t take a great deal of speculation to figure out what Volkswagen has in store if it ever releases dark preview images of a born-again Scirocco, Corrado, or Karmann-Ghia — or maybe a new New Beetle. But don’t get your hopes up. In a separate report, Schäfer clarified the company is not in a position to launch niche or low-volume cars due to the strong financial headwinds it’s currently facing.

“We have to invest in hybridization, Euro 7 [emissions rules] and beyond. It’s quite a stretch to afford it all, and you need to keep your portfolio—the core—together, and then you work on niche products. In the past, we had quite a bit of niche products, and I’m not saying that we don’t bring them back, but not at the moment. We have to keep the main business healthy. That’s the main focus,” he told Autocar.

His comments douse cold water on the rumors claiming that a third-generation Scirocco is in the pipeline. The unverified report that made headlines in 2024 sketched the outline of an electric coupe built on the PPE platform that underpins the new, second-generation Porsche Macan, among other electric vehicles.

This policy isn’t new; Volkswagen has been a good caretaker of its heritage. The New Beetle was exactly what its name implied: a new Beetle. The GTI remains true to its roots as a fun, front-wheel-drive hatch with a relatively affordable price tag, and the second-generation Scirocco sold in Europe was a driver-focused coupe with a surprisingly practical interior. Even the Golf has followed a clear evolutionary path. The new additions to the range, like the Arteon and the Taos, received new names instead of old ones.

Schäfer knows that niche models can boost a company’s image, and he’s not ruling out adding a few to the Volkswagen range when the automotive landscape finally stops looking like a minefield.

“What else can we add? The core is clear. What we have in our portfolio now, I think, is truly core, from the small hatches to the SUVs, all the way up to big SUVs and station wagons. But, you know, more niche things like the Scirocco used to be, like the Touran used to be, those kind of vehicles. They have a place in our overall view,” he concluded.