VW Scirocco Hot Hatch Could Make Comeback as BEV

Volkswagen Group initiates internal design, engineering and manufacturing studies for a return of the Scirocco as an electric-powered model with Giugiaro-inspired lines and a possible dual-motor, all-wheel drive flagship with R badging denoting VW’s performance-car division.

The proposed liftback-style coupe is included in a four-way electric sportscar project that also includes the fourth-generation Porsche Boxster, an upcoming production version of the Cupra Dark Rebel concept and the fourth-generation Audi TT, a high-ranking VW insider tells WardsAuto, suggesting it could be launched by 2028 if granted production approval.

The original Scirocco was introduced in 1974 and discontinued after 2017.

A modern-day Scirocco BEV could be slotted above the second-generation ID.3, which on current VW planning is set to adopt the Golf name and be sold alongside a restyled ninth-generation version of its internal-combustion-engine hatchback sibling from 2027.

But while the upcoming electric Golf is set to adopt the MEB+ platform announced by VW in February 2022, the revived Scirocco is proposed to be based on a specially adapted version of the PPE platform developed for the fourth-generation Boxster – a model that will forgo ICE tradition and be offered exclusively with electric drivetrains, while also forming the basis for the third-generation Porsche Cayman.

Details of the electric sportscar platform are yet to be made official, though WardsAuto has been told the new structure has been conceived to support several wheelbases and track widths, as well as both single-motor rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive layouts.

As with the existing J1 platform used by the Porsche Taycan and its Audi e-tron GT sister model, the platform to be used by the new Boxster has been developed to provide a low sill and floor height – elements crucial to its sporty design. This is claimed to be achieved by packaging the battery within the center tunnel and behind the cabin – a layout mirroring the mid-engine layout of previous Boxster models and labeled E-Core by Porsche, whose earlier Mission R first exposed its plans for the electric roadster model.

Engineered to support the new Boxster’s open-top design, the new platform is also said to boast extreme stiffness and rigidity – a factor that has made it attractive to Audi and its plans to develop both coupe and roadster versions of a future electric-powered TT.

While the new Boxster and Cupra Dark Rebel feature a 2-seat interior, the Scirocco and TT are expected to receive a longer wheelbase, which provides room for two rear seats and greater practicality.  

While it is still in the early stages, the fourth iteration of the Scirocco could start with something in the region of 300 hp in a single-motor, rear-wheel-drive base model. Befitting its sporting profile, VW is also considering a dual-motor, all-wheel-drive R model that could potentially offer over 400 hp.

Initial design proposals for the fourth-generation Scirocco were developed early last year, shortly after the arrival of Andreas Mindt as head of VW design.

Mindt, the former head of design operations at Bentley, has often referenced the original ’74 Giugiaro-designed Scirocco in explaining his vision for styling to be featured on the next generation of Volkswagen models.

“The Scirocco was among the first cars to use a sharp and low line to visually enhance the car and make it appear lower. It’s a stylistic trick to reduce volume and results in a more powerful and sporting stance,” he says, adding, “That’s the secret sauce that makes a car desirable, a stylish car that everyone wants to drive.”

Plans to revive the Scirocco come after Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume rallied managers to develop plans to provide the German automaker with greater economies of scale around new volume models through greater integration between brands, component sharing and production activities.

It remains to be decided where the new Scirocco would be built should it be given a production greenlight. One possibility is the former Karmann factory in Osnabruck, Germany – the site where the original Scirocco was manufactured and, more recently, home to production of the ICE Porsche Boxster.