Volkswagen will overhaul the ID 4 SUV so comprehensively next year that it will be more like a new generation than a facelift, as part of a drive to sustain its strong sales figures and make it a more obvious electric equivalent to the Tiguan.
The ID 4, Volkswagen's second bespoke electric car after the closely related ID 3 hatchback, is approaching its fifth birthday, having launched in 2020 as a crucial component of the firm's drive to become a global leader in EV sales.
It quickly became one of the world's most popular EVs, and remains an important part of Volkswagen's electric portfolio: currently it is Europe's fourth best-selling electric car, between the ID 7 and ID 3, according to figures from Jato Dynamics.
And now, at five years old, the Toyota bZ4X and Tesla Model Y rival is due an extensive round of design and technical updates to bring it into line with its newer stablemates.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer said the new 2026 ID 4 is "really beautiful" and hinted at just how extensively it has been overhauled: "We'll re-do the ID 4 completely inside and out. It will be a completely different car - a huge step up."
A major priority for the design overhaul is to ensure the ID 4 is visually related to the upcoming ID 1 city car and ID 2 superminis. "We felt it needed to fit in with the new design language going forward, since it is still our most important electric vehicle in numbers," said Schäfer.
“It's also to stay competitive for a while: let's [bring] a completely new one.”
Autocar understands the new ID 4 is known internally as the 'electric Tiguan', hinting at a push to present the two similarly sized SUV models more overtly as siblings.
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