Volkswagen has a critical year coming in 2020, when the German brand will launch two incredibly important vehicles nearly back-to-back.
The next-generation Volkswagen Golf will arrive that year, and then, one month later, the brand will launch its first mass-market electric car, the ID hatchback.
The 2020 car will be the eighth generation of the Golf nameplate, but the first for the ID hatchback, which is poised to carry the German brand into the future.
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Jürgen Stackman, board member and head of sales and marketing, revealed the launch cadence and said both new cars "will stand on their own feet."
The inbound arrival of the ID hatchback also spells the end of the road for the Volkswagen e-Golf, according to Stackman, who spoke with Australia's Drive.
Electrification for the Golf 8 will stop at the development of a new plug-in hybrid, while the ID model takes over full-electric duties.
Volkswagen ID electric car concept, 2016 Paris auto show
Volkswagen has developed a new architecture solely for its electric vehicles called the MEB platform.
The current e-Golf is underpinned by VW's MQB platform, designed for vehicles with front-mounted transverse engines and transmissions, which Stackman says is "not optimal" for engineering.
The Volkswagen executive also said the brand expects a net all-electric range of 300 to 450 kilometers (186 to 280 miles) when the ID hatchback launches, likely on the European test cycle.
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Additionally, the ID hatchback will be positioned at a Golf Diesel price point—no coincidence as diesel-powered cars have started to lose favor in many European markets.
Speaking of Europe, the Volkswagen ID has not been confirmed for the United States market.
The compact electric hatchback is expected to launch in Europe, and be Volkswagen's highest-volume electric car in that market.
Volkswagen ID electric car concept, 2016 Paris auto show
In the U.S., Volkswagen's first all-electric car will be a crossover utility vehicle, one that hasn't yet been revealed according to a leaked slide showing VW's electric-car product cadence.
The brand also recently confirmed the electric ID Buzz concept, its reborn all-electric Microbus, will see production by 2022 or so.
Volkswagen Group's premium brand, Audi, also plans a slew of new electric cars under its "e-tron" branding in the United States.
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The German automaker has big plans for its electric cars next decade.
The ID hatchback will be the first of several ID-branded vehicles to carry Volkswagen towards its goal of selling 1 million electric cars annually by the year 2025.
The majority of those sales, however, will occur in China, where regulations require a far faster and higher-volume shift to electric cars than in Europe or North America.
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