Volkswagen has officially announced that it will be launching a compact SUV in 2026. This upcoming SUV is expected to be a rugged alternative to the Volkswagen ID 3.

The new vehicle will be produced in Wolfsburg, Germany, alongside the ID 3. It will likely be built on an updated version of the VW Group’s MEB platform, internally known as MEB Evo.

Volkswagen’s board of management recently revealed details about the company’s factory network plans up until 2028. The focus is on maximizing production efficiency by assigning different models to specific global production hubs and grouping platform-sharing models together.

Christian Vollmer, Volkswagen’s production boss, stated, “We are utilizing the transition to electromobility as an opportunity to simplify our production operations and improve plant efficiency even further. We are bringing together vehicles based on the same architecture across all brands in our plants.”

Vollmer added, “By doing so, we will save significant investments in integrating different vehicle architectures. Our goal is to have our plants produce multiple models based on the same vehicle architecture.”

In addition to the ID 3 and the new compact SUV, the Wolfsburg plant will continue manufacturing the Volkswagen Golf hatchback and the latest version of the Volkswagen Tiguan. The Volkswagen Tayron, a seven-seat SUV and replacement for the Tiguan Allspace, will also be built in Wolfsburg starting from 2025.

Furthermore, Volkswagen confirmed that it currently has no plans to build a dedicated factory for its long-awaited Trinity flagship. Instead, the highly autonomous EV will be produced at Zwickau, Germany, where the company currently manufactures the ID 3 and ID 5.

Last year, there were discussions within Volkswagen about the viability of a dedicated factory for the Trinity model due to delays in the program. The potential easing of demand for combustion cars may create space for a new model within the existing network.