Volkswagen has made a decision that will directly affect everyday car buyers across Europe: the brand will no longer develop new petrol-powered models in its smallest vehicle segments. In the Polo class and below, petrol is effectively over. From now on, electricity will be the only option.
The message comes straight from Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer, who explained in an interview with Auto, Motor und Sport that the business case for small petrol cars no longer adds up. Stricter emissions regulations, higher safety requirements and rising production costs have pushed prices to a point where affordable petrol-powered city cars are no longer viable.
As a result, new entry-level petrol cars are becoming too expensive to make sense for consumers. According to Volkswagen, electric drivetrains are now the only realistic way to offer small cars that meet regulatory demands while still being sold at a competitive price.
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Starting with the Volkswagen ID.Polo
This shift will become tangible with the upcoming Volkswagen ID. Polo. The electric model is expected to launch with a starting price of around €25,000 and a length of approximately 4.05 metres—placing it squarely in the same segment the Polo has dominated for decades, but without an internal combustion engine.
For buyers, this represents a major change in choice. Where small cars were once available with petrol, diesel and later hybrid powertrains, the traditional “affordable city car” will increasingly be electric-only. Volkswagen stresses that this is not an ideological decision, but a financial one: adapting petrol engines to meet modern regulations in small segments has simply become too costly.
To keep prices under control, Volkswagen plans to rely heavily on shared technology. The ID. Polo will be part of a new family of compact electric cars built on a common platform, which will also underpin models from Cupra and Skoda.
An even smaller electric model is planned to follow: the Volkswagen ID. Every1, expected around 2027, which will effectively replace the former Up.
At the same time, Volkswagen is distancing itself from alternative solutions such as hydrogen for mainstream passenger cars. According to Schäfer, hydrogen currently lacks sufficient green supply, cost efficiency and overall energy effectiveness to make sense for mass-market vehicles.
For consumers, the message is clear: the next affordable Volkswagen will not run on petrol. If you want a new, small car from the brand in the coming years, it will come with an electric motor—whether that was your original plan or not.
