Volkswagen is ready to log off the ultimate design of the Volkswagen ID 1 imminently, model chairman Thomas Schäfer has stated, with 4 proposals being debated for the £17,000 entry-level electric car.

Conceived as a substitute for the 11-year-old e-Up, the brand new mannequin is deliberate to go on sale throughout Europe by the tip of 2027 at a worth equal to round £17,000.

Speaking on the firm’s annual accounts press convention, Schäfer confirmed Volkswagen will resolve throughout the subsequent few weeks what course the ID 1 will finally take.

“The working title is ID 1 and the vehicle is planned for 2027. We’re in the middle of it all. We know what the car should look like,” he stated.

The ID 1 will immediately rival the fourth-generation Renault Twingo, which is deliberate to be launched in 2026 as an electrical hatchback with styling extremely harking back to the unique and with a projected worth just like the upcoming Volkswagen’s.

As properly as deciding what type the automobile will take, Volkswagen has but to lock within the industrial plan for its new entry-level electrical mannequin. “This is extremely challenging,” stated Schäfer.

Given excessive battery and manufacturing prices in Europe, a worth of £17,000 is prone to be achieved solely with giant volumes and excessive economies of scale.

Development and manufacturing prices could be amortised throughout different Volkswagen Group manufacturers, together with Skoda and Seat/Cupra, Schäfer stated, including: “We will make the decision in the short term.”

Recent stories have urged that Volkswagen could join forces with Renault and presumably develop and produce the ID 1 in partnership with the Twingo.

At an earlier press convention this week, Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume stated a choice on an entry-level mannequin can be made in 2024, referencing the opportunity of a tie-up with Renault.