- Trademark registered by Volkswagen maintains the GTI marque with the addition of a lightning bolt, signalling its switch to electric.
- Current performance variants of VW’s electric range have been given the GTX tag, but this could be made redundant once all models are battery-powered.
- VW’s electric push is expected to progress significantly over the next few years with more models on the way.
GTI or GTX?
Volkswagen’s GTI marque, first introduced on the original Golf back in 1976, has been a tell-tale sign of an ordinary car with performance prowess lurking beneath. With the company continuing to release electric replacements for its existing models, a recent trademark filed by the company suggests that the GTI badge could be here to stay in some form.
An altered version of the GTI logo, featuring an energy bolt in place of the I, was discovered on the German Patent and Trade Mark Office’s website. The symbol clearly hints at the company’s electric future, from which we have already seen a couple of performance EVs – such as the GTX editions of the ID.4 and ID.5.
The GTX name was used to differentiate the fact that those two models were the new era of electric performance for the brand, but once Volkswagen stops selling ICE-powered cars entirely, it would make sense to keep the well-established GTI moniker in place.
There is of course no guarantee that this discovery means the GTI name is here to stay, as patents are filed all the time for products that never come to fruition. However, Volkswagen boss Thomas Schäfer did suggest to DrivingElectric that the GTX name could be ditched in the future once more models become electric, with him also noting that the GTI brand is ‘so strong’.
Future electric performance models from Volkswagen
We’re still waiting for the company to release a performance variant of its popular ID.3 hatchback, so it’ll be interesting to see whether it sticks with the GTX badge for that launch. The planned ID.2 supermini is also getting a hot hatch form, built to take on the likes of the upcoming Renault 5-based Alpine A290.
The move also brings into question whether Volkswagen’s current ‘ID’ EV naming strategy will be kept to, or whether names from ICE models still being produced, such as the Golf, will be carried over to the electric era. Volkswagen did previously have an ‘e-Golf’, but that was discontinued with the ID.3 taking its place.
