It’s been just over one year since Arno Antlitz, Volkswagen Group’s chief finance officer, told employees the company had “a year, maybe two years, to turn things around” following a collapse in sales. Since then, things haven’t really changed. The German conglomerate sold 4.36 million vehicles in the first half of 2025—just 0.5 percent more than the same period last year, and a far cry from the 5.36 million cars it was selling during that same period before the pandemic upended the industry.
VW’s last-minute union deal last year prevented any factories from closing, and restructured the company’s future plans for its all-important Golf hatchback. Under this new plan, production of the current Golf will move to Mexico, while the original plant in Wolfsburg, Germany will be converted to build the next-generation Golf, an all-electric car. The move is expected to save the company around $4.7 billion a year.
Sounds like a plan, right? Well, it seems Volkswagen’s tightening finances are finally starting to catch up to it, and it’s causing delays. From Bloomberg:
The plan to retool VW’s Wolfsburg factory for next-generation electric vehicles has stalled due to budget constraints, pushing back the launch of the electric Golf by around nine months, the people said, asking to remain anonymous discussing confidential information.
Plans to move production of the existing combustion-engine Golf to Mexico have been delayed as a result, they added. The timing of the launch of the electric version of the T-Roc has also been affected, one of the people said.
VW declined to comment when reached by Bloomberg. I’ve reached out myself to see if the company can share any more info, but haven’t heard back yet.
The electric Golf was supposed to arrive sometime in 2029 to combat Chinese EVs in Europe, which have quickly become a dominant force in the region thanks to their lower costs. Losing another nine months isn’t the end of the world, but it’s also nine months where companies like BYD and NIO can further expand their market share.
Drama at the Wolfsburg plant doesn’t stop at its balance sheet, according to Bloomberg:
The delayed factory revamp comes as tensions run high among factory workers in Wolfsburg, where technical errors and equipment failures are bringing production lines to a standstill, the people said. It’s a blow for staff who had been brought in for night and weekend shifts to meet customer demand. Output could fall by as many as thousands of units a week for the rest of the year, one of the people said.
Bloomberg reports that Volkswagen is mapping out a spending plan for the next four years, with one of its sources saying some of that cash could be allocated to fixing the above problem points. Whether VW can keep up with all of these costs without a return to form for its sales numbers is unclear.
The normal Golf hasn’t been sold in America since 2021, but the GTI and the Golf R are still offered here. VW hasn’t said whether that’ll still be the case once the GTI turns into an EV, though I don’t think the company would turn its back on the enthusiast market like that (at least, I hope it doesn’t). Guess we’ll see!
The post Volkswagen Reportedly Can’t Even Afford To Build The Golf EV Right Now appeared first on The Autopian.
