With the advent of electric vehicles, automotive manufacturers are extensively experimenting with vehicle designs. We have seen everything from plain, blunt designs to edgy, in-yer-face ones from various OEMs. Volkswagen, on the contrary, has remained composed and wise with its choice of lines and surfaces and managed to create some of the cleanest and most relatable EV designs of the day. Recently VW’s design leadership revealed key insights into the manufacturer’s design direction with electric vehicles. VW will stop using hard plastics in its future portfolio, as per an interview published by TopGear.
Volkswagen’s design bosses- Andy Mindt and Christian Schreiber say that improving cabin experience will be prioritized in the coming years. The company will also work towards instilling their identity into the cabin experience of each vehicle. Proper care will be taken to ensure that the future VW cabins are all simple and functional. There will not be busy layouts or luxury overdoses inside.
The manufacturer plans to introduce/ retain certain easter eggs from cars from the past. Certain patterns from bygone times, for example, will be kept safe, especially in the iconic GTI range. These will remain exclusive to the respective models (here the GTI).
Andy also makes the bold claim of ‘kicking out cheap plastic materials’ from the future VW cars and SUVs. The OEM will focus on fabrics and on improving quality instead. This move will save money and provide more liquidity for use elsewhere.
The design boss further explains that if a door card is currently made of 3 pieces, VW will try to design it using a single island in the middle. They will try to craft it out of a single piece, which would make the process more sustainable and cost-effective.
VW’s Vision For Balanced Designs
The German auto giant has plans to make balanced vehicle designs in the future. It will bring its own rich heritage to future vehicle designs and will try to preserve the brand identity rather than making aggressively shouty designs. Andy says that most people wouldn’t want to look the coolest or have the shoutiest presence in public. They would be happy with a good-looking, composed and calm design, or as the bossman calls it ‘be the nice guys.’
Plans With Tech
There is enough to be excited about VW’s plans with technology and features. The manufacturer intends to democratize technology, in the upcoming years. This will be done in a way that will make people’s lives easier. The in-cabin experience will be improved, and so will be the one while using it. There is no intention to make things complicated for the end user, just because he wanted to have ample tech in his Volkswagen.
Revamping Icons Like The GTI
Resurrecting legendary models like the GTI family, for instance, is a big responsibility. Volkswagen seems to know this as well. The bosses say that they pay great attention to keeping key traits safe while resurrecting legendary names. In the GTI for example, all characters of Volkswagen, GTI and Gold would have to be kept safe and improved upon.
Key architectural traits like bigger wheels, a wider track and a slim body will make their way to the future iterations of the GTI, and to other VW models like the ID.2. Schreiber says it is huge fun and a challenge to work on the GTI. The bossmen, however, admit that making a transition from old ICE designs to EVs has been relatively easy for them. A lot of the credit has to go to VW’s advanced EV platform.
