All the models and brands that Volkswagen will eliminate in its readjustment plan

The announcement of adjustments and staff cuts at the Volkswagen group last week – the first of this magnitude in the 89-year history of the brand– will be accompanied by a historic restructuring of the models manufactured by the group to reduce production costs and maintain the competitiveness of the brands.

Oliver Blume himself, CEO of the Volkswagen Group, has announced the need to “reduce complexity and simplify processes and structures consistently” to remain competitive in an increasingly electrified market. And furthermore, with the threat posed to European vehicles by new Chinese manufacturers, who are capable of producing electric vehicles of comparable quality at a significantly lower price.

To all this, we must add the fact that each major continental market has specific characteristics and preferences that Volkswagen Group brands have not always been able to satisfy. According to Blume, European buyers focus on emissions and consumption, while Asian buyers (China, India, and Japan) focus on a highly advanced technological level. The United States, for its part, still demands SUVs and small trucks or pickups of large or very large size. Volkswagen's roadmap now also generates new models that start from the same platform and share development and production costs to then adapt to the demands of each automotive market and continue to be competitive on a global scale.

Cutting back on niche models

Oliver Blume's plan involves focusing now on the market segments that are most attractive and profitable for the brand, abandoning experimental niche models with little return on the investments made. Among others, this translates into a 50% reduction in models for sale and a 75% reduction in available configuration options, which allows for streamlining production processes and reducing production costs. Thus, the recipe is apparently simple: fewer cars and with fewer options for engine, bodywork, color, and customization.

The goal of this roadmap is to generate a more flexible structure that is adaptable to market demands, but which fundamentally focuses on the models and segments that allow for achieving an operating commercial margin of between 8% and 10% for every car sold, figures that most of the group's models do not currently reach.

The reduction of models in the group's commercial offering will begin in 2026 and will continue throughout 2027 with the disappearance of the Volkswagen Touareg (a large and expensive SUV that has not met sales expectations), the Volkswagen T-Roc Cabrio (the convertible variant that has never quite worked), the Volkswagen Touran (a versatile minivan that has lost popularity in favor of SUVs) and the electric Volkswagen ID.5, a coupe-style sedan that will disappear in favor of the ID.4. Audi, for its part, has also confirmed the disappearance of the A1 and of the Q2, the two entry-level models that left little profit margin for the Ingolstadt brand.Farewell to sedans and large SUVs

Although the brand has not yet made any official confirmation, it is expected that Volkswagen will also eliminate other combustion models with discreet sales figures such as the Volkswagen Jetta sedan or large, high-priced SUVs like the Volkswagen Taos. Both the Jetta and the Taos are two Volkswagen models heavily oriented towards the North American market, where the brand has never fully recovered from the reputational crisis caused by the Dieselgate or the emissions scandal.

The group's readjustment plan will also affect Porsche, Volkswagen's crown jewel, which could stop manufacturing models like the Taycan or the Cayenne Coupé, and which even sees the 718 series sports models in jeopardy.

And Seat, what about it?

Regarding Seat, the brand does not currently foresee any immediate discontinuation of models, since although the Volkswagen group stated in a press release that it was already working on a possible and hypothetical "gradual withdrawal" of Seat, Blume himself affirmed that alternatives are still being evaluated and that for the moment "no definitive decision has been made" regarding the continuity of the Seat brand.However, at this point it escapes no one that the Ibiza and the Arona, the two pillars of the Seat brand, are old models (from the year 2017) and technically built on an old platform that makes it incompatible to incorporate any electrification system that would turn them into conventional hybrids or plug-in hybrids, and which, at most, would admit a mild hybridization system or Mild Hybrid –a variant that Seat could have incorporated years ago, but which it does not currently have in its range–. Although both models (Ibiza and Arona) are already practically ten years old, Seat still sells many units of its two star models, but it seems complicated to be able to guarantee their continuity after the entry into force of future emissions regulations.To all this, we must add the fact that Seat has already lost a bunch of models over the last few years, such as the Alhambra, the Tarraco, the Mii, or the Ateca. The Volkswagen group's bet includes new Cupra models like the Terramar, Formentor, Born, or Raval, ambitious cars with electrified mechanics and a profit margin much higher than Seat's.

Seat SA, a conglomerate that includes the traditional Seat brand and Cupra, will not disappear, but it will transform to adapt to the times, consumer preferences, and regulatory requirements. Although for the moment the Volkswagen group's communications have tried to be cautious regarding the Seat brand, for years now the group's leadership roadmap has been articulated around the Cupra subsidiary, which is more profitable and attractive for receiving investments and technological innovations than the traditional Seat brand.