Volkswagen Will Start Using ‘Proper’ Names Again

Volkswagen has fallen into that trap that so many automakers do: Slapping some numerals onto the backside of a vague set of letters and calling it a day—like the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.7. Granted, the company still has plenty of standard names in its lineup, especially in the US—the Taos, the Tiguan, etc.—but we could see even more traditional names return in the next few years.

VW’s head of marketing and sales, Martin Sander, told the German publication Auto Und Wirtschaft that traditional names will make a comeback, as opposed to clunky alpha-numerics.

“The cars will get proper names again,” said Sander. “Neither the ID.2all nor the ID.Every1 will have those names in series production. We’ll announce that when the time comes.”

That’s good news for a brand that, historically, has had some of the best car names in the business—Beetle, Golf, Thing, and so on. It’s still unclear if the “ID” moniker will stick around for VW’s electric models, but it sounds like the confusing nameplate could potentially be on the way out.

We’ve seen other companies change their naming strategies recently, including those underneath the Volkswagen Group umbrella. Audi attempted to revamp its nameplates by making its even-numbered cars electric (A4, A6) and its odd-numbered cars gas-powered (A5, A7). But, the company has since reversed course and reverted to using “E-Tron” for its EVs and “TFSI” for its gas cars.

Photo by: DW Burnett / Motor1

BMW is implementing a similar strategy by removing the letter “i” from all of its gas-powered cars and using it exclusively for its EVs—i4, i7. Toyota even recently changed the name of one of the worst-named EVs on the market, the bZ4X, to simply “bZ.”

VW appears to be the next company in line for a major name change. And we’d welcome it.