Company That Came Up With Iconic Names Like ‘Beetle’ And ‘Thing’ Decides To Give Its Cars Real Names Again

When it comes to marketing electric cars, many automakers have all gone the same way. They’ve picked funny letters or numerical combinations to make their EVs stand out in their lineups. However, Volkswagen has decided that’s no longer the cool thing to do.

Martin Sander is Volkswagen’s brand Chief of Marketing and Sales. Speaking to German outlet Auto Und Wirtschaft, Sander made it clear that a change is coming. “The cars will get real names again,” he said, translated from German.

Thus far, Volkswagen has set its mainstream electric vehicles apart with the ID. moniker. For example, the German automaker has launched vehicles like the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.7, and even resurrected the famous Volkswagen bus as the ID.Buzz. However, that branding is now on the way out, with real names set to return.

First to receive proper monikers will be the ID.Every1 and ID.2all. These vehicles have been shown as concepts of Volkswagen’s future electric compact cars. However, they will hit the market under different branding. “Neither the ID. 2all nor the ID. EVERY1 will have those names in series production,” stated Sander. “We’ll announce that when the time comes.”

On the one hand, it’s easy to understand this move. Electric cars are no longer only the preserve of dedicated early adopters. Plenty of regular motorists rely on EVs these days for their regular transport. There is a great deal of market awareness now, and automakers aren’t feeling the need to put EVs wholly in their own special category anymore. They have, to a degree, become normalized. [Ed Note: And yet, has any model become fully electric without changing its name? Lewin wrote a few months back “Is The Porsche Macan The First Car To Switch From Gasoline To Electric Without Adding An ‘E’ Or Something To Its Name?” but it seems the electric Macan is the Macan Electric, so EVs have been normalized, yes, but not yet to the point where cars are just keeping their same names while gaining an electric powertrain. As for the topic at hand, I think that, with great names like “Golf” and “Jetta” and Beetle and “Arteon,” the the ID.X naming was a let-down, so I’m a fan of this new move. -DT]. 

[Other Editor’s Note: Actually, I think DT is underselling the naming history here. There’s a ton of great names beyond those, even! Rabbit, Dasher, Scirocco, Corrado, Thing, Eos, Apollo, Fox, SpaceFox, Up!, Pointer, Derby, Country Buggy, Quantum – those are some names! – JT]

At the same time, it’s a big change in Volkswagen’s marketing tack. It’s especially surprising given that it bestowed the ID. moniker on the ID. Buzz, which has been something of a torchbearer for the company. The bus has always been an icon, and the Buzz is already shipping. It would be difficult and confusing to rename the model now. [Ed Note: I think if VW called it the VW Bus, that’d work great. -DT]. 

It’s not clear as to whether Volkswagen will only adopt this policy for new launches, or whether it will rename existing EV models, too. The Autopian has reached out to the automaker for comment.

In any case, Volkswagen is taking a very different path than some of its fellow German automakers. BMW is doing quite the opposite, docking the famous “i” from combustion-engined models because it has reserved this for its EV range. Meanwhile, Audi has adopted a structured numbering strategy. Mercedes-Benz is going for a managed transition, intending to potentially reduce the use of the “EQ” branding going forward.

At this point, I’ll invite the Autopian commentariat to weigh in. Do you think electric vehicles should have special names, prefixes, or pretty little hats? Or do you think automakers should go back to real names? Personally, I’m in favor of actual words. Let’s have the Volkswagen Tigerclaw or some other nonsense going forward. We deserve it.

Image credits: Volkswagen