ID.4

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
SUV

Volkswagen is already one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, but it is showing no signs of slowing down. Its new Amarok is coming soon, and its electric revolution is in full swing with the German brand saying that it will no longer develop new combustion engines. As the marque moves away from internal combustion engines, spawning new vehicles from an electric platform could be relatively easy to achieve. Some have even wondered if an electric Volkswagen pickup could be offered.

Responding to such a question in an online Q&A, Hein Schafer, VW's senior VP of product marketing, says that such a vehicle could happen, but it would have to be electric and would thus not rival the Ford Maverick. Watch from 25:36 to hear his take on this potential new vehicle.

Schafer is typically careful not to confirm anything early, but his response is fairly open to interpretation too. He's neither too circumspect nor too assertive about the possibility of an electric pickup for the States and mentions how a larger SUV than the ID.4 could be on the cards and would provide the ideal platform for a pickup to be built from, but it seems that if such a vehicle does get the go-ahead, it would run on VW's existing MEB architecture and not be spawned from Project Trinity. Of course, none of this is confirmation that an electric pickup will be made, but when representatives of an automaker don't outright say no to something, you can be sure that they have at least considered the possibility already.

We've also seen a concept for such a vehicle after Volkswagen revealed the Atlas Tanoak in 2017, but early last year, Volkswagen's chief operating officer Johan de Nysschen said that such a vehicle for the North American market was "not even on the discussion...for the next five years."

That could be taken to mean that Volkswagen would only consider building such a vehicle from 2025, or you could be more positive about his words and take them to mean that the groundwork is already laid and the new pickup will debut in 2025. Only time will tell what Volkswagen has in store, but we're quietly optimistic that we'll see an electric truck from Wolfsburg soon enough.