The Volkswagen Tex, one of two ItalDesign concepts.
Wonder what the future of Volkswagen looks like?
We’re getting a good indication on the floor of the Geneva Motor Show, over at the Italdesign stand, where two design studies commissioned by the German maker are on display.
ItalDesign’s Giorgetto Giugiaro gets credit for doing the original Golf and Scirocco designs, so one should ignore the new VW Go! and Tex concepts at your own peril.
Both reflect the realities of an evolving global automotive market, where downsizing is the norm and powertrain flexibility will be critical, reflecting the fact that what motorists – or regulators – demand in Beijing won’t be the same as they want and need in Berlin or Boston.
The goal of the project, says Giugiaro, was to come up with “cars (that) for the most part (were) designed for the city with our highly personal interpretation.”
The two concepts mark the integration of ItalDesign into the Volkswagen Group.
In the case of the Go! the design house aimed for a vehicle with “improved ergonomics and passenger room…keeping the smaller exterior size that has distinguished a large part of my career. It is a vehicle that is…eco-friendly, and is able to guarantee the utmost in terms of ergonomics and luxury, with an abundant loading volume.”
Measuring just 13 feet, bumper-to-bumper, Go! is what Europeans like to call a multi-purpose vehicle, or MPV – what Americans know as a crossover. Its tall seating design means a lot more interior space than you might expect, at first glance, SUV-like visibility – and the ability to store batteries with minimal impact on passenger and cargo space.
The second ItalDesign Concept, the VW Go!
On the show floor, Go! features the new Blue-e-motion battery-electric system, here capable of getting 150 miles per charge. But the concept is designed around VW’s modular transverse architecture. That means it can handle all manner of different powertrains: hybrids, BEVs, diesel or gasoline.
The design’s interior space is further enhanced by the extensive use of glass. Curiously, only the lower portion of the windows roll down, however, much like the old Subaru SVX.
“Tex on the other hand is our interpretation of tomorrow’s sporty Volkswagen,” suggests Giugiaro. Indeed, the design boutique specifically crafted a cabin that feels like you’re entering a sports car, with touches like a flat-bottomed steering wheel and sporty seats, even if Tex does have a hatchback shape.
The interior of the VW Go! concept.
Here the modular architecture — Modularer Quer-Baukasten, or MQB, to the Germans – relies on a Twin Drive plug-in hybrid powertrain. It uses a similar strategy as the Chevrolet Volt, in that the wheels are driven by the electric motors, and can get about 21 miles per charge before the range-extender internal combustion engine fires up.
The debut of the two show cars celebrates the integration of ItalDesign as a part of the seemingly ever-growing Volkswagen Group. But they also suggest what we might see as the new MQB architecture goes from concept to production.
Expect to see the first model based on the platform to hit the street in 2012.