The Volkswagen Group Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) is a modular car platform for electric cars being developed by the Volkswagen Group. [1] [2] SSP was announced in July 2021, as part of Volkswagen's "New Auto" strategy, to have a "single battery electric vehicle (BEV) platform across all the group's brands". [2] [1] SSP is planned to be introduced in 2029, and intend to succeed the MEB and PPE platforms. [1] [2] [3] It is also expected to replace Volkswagen's internal combustion engine platforms. [3] As with MEB it is expected that the platform will also be offered to other car manufacturers. [3] [4]
SSP is intended to have a common platform with different modules. [4] The modules will have a limited number of variants to reduce production complexity. [4] This will allow the Volkswagen brands to create differentiated cars, whilst having a high degree of standardisation. [4] [5] As well as a shared car platform, there will also be common battery, software and autonomous driving systems. [6] [7]
Reportedly Volkswagen will develop a variant for traditional cars under the code name "Trinity", whilst Audi is creating the variant for SUVs under the code name "Apollon". [8] [9]
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into the global brand it is known as today post-World War II by the British Army officer Ivan Hirst, it is known for the iconic Beetle and serves as the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive manufacturer by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group's biggest market is China, which delivers 40 percent of its sales and profits. Its name is derived from the German-language terms Volk and Wagen, translating to "people's car" when combined.
Volkswagen AG, known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of passenger and commercial vehicles, motorcycles, engines and turbomachinery. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, and since the late 2000s is a publicly-traded family business owned by Porsche SE, which in turn is half-owned but fully controlled by the Austrian-German Porsche and Piëch family. The company also offers related services, including financing, leasing, and fleet management. In 2016, it was the world's largest automaker by sales, and keeping this title in 2017, 2018, and 2019, selling 10.9 million vehicles and was the largest automaker by revenue in 2022. It has maintained the largest market share in Europe for over two decades. It ranked seventh in the 2020 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest companies. In 2023, Volkswagen Group ranked 29th in the Forbes Global 2000.
The Volkswagen Golf is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates – including as the Volkswagen Rabbit in the United States and Canada, and as the Volkswagen Caribe in Mexico (Mk1).
Volkswagen Group China is the Chinese subsidiary of the German automotive concern Volkswagen Group in the People's Republic of China.
The Volkswagen Group MQB platform is the company's strategy for shared modular design construction of its transverse, front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout automobiles. It was first introduced in the Volkswagen Golf Mk7 in late 2012. Volkswagen spent roughly $8bn developing this new platform and the cars employing it. The platform underpins a wide range of cars from the supermini class to the mid size SUV class. MQB allows Volkswagen to assemble any of its cars based on this platform across all of its MQB ready factories. This allows the Volkswagen group flexibility to shift production as needed between its different factories. Beginning in 2012, Volkswagen Group marketed the strategy under the code name MQB, which stands for Modularer Querbaukasten, translating from German to "Modular Transversal Toolkit" or "Modular Transverse Matrix". MQB is one strategy within VW's overall MB program which also includes the similar MLB strategy for vehicles with longitudinal engine orientation.
The electric vehicle industry in China is the largest in the world, accounting for around 58% of global production of electric vehicles (EVs) and more than 1.5 million exports in 2023. In 2023, CAAM reported China had sold 9.05 million passenger electric vehicles, consisting 6.26 million BEVs and 2.79 million PHEV. China also dominates the plug-in electric bus and light commercial vehicle market, reaching over 500,000 buses and 247,500 electric commercial vehicles in 2019, and recording new sales of 447,000 commercial EVs in 2023.
The Volkswagen ID.3 is a battery electric small family car (C-segment) produced by Volkswagen since 2019. It is the first production car to utilize the MEB platform, and the first model of the ID. series. It was unveiled on 9 September 2019 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, after being first shown as the I.D. concept car at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Deliveries to retail customers began in Germany in September 2020.
The Volkswagen ID. Buzz is a battery electric minivan produced by German manufacturer Volkswagen. Based on the dedicated battery electric MEB platform, it is the first production electric minivan from Volkswagen and part of the Volkswagen ID. series. A retro styled minivan, the design of the ID. Buzz is inspired by the Volkswagen Type 2 (T1) Microbus.
The Volkswagen ID. Crozz is an electric concept car based on Volkswagen's electric MEB platform, and part of the ID. series. It was first shown as a prototype at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show. A revised version, named the "ID. Crozz II", was shown at the 2017 Frankfurt Auto Show. A hint of the ID. Crozz production version was also promised for the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show, alongside the debut of the ID.3 and the next generation E-up.
The Volkswagen Group MEB platform is a modular car platform for electric cars developed by the Volkswagen Group and its subsidiaries. It is used in models of Audi, Cupra, Škoda, and Volkswagen, along with Ford through partnership. The architecture is aimed to "consolidate electronic controls and reduce the number of microprocessors, advance the application of new driver-assistance technology and somewhat alter the way cars are built" by the VW Group.
The Volkswagen ID. series is a family of battery electric cars from Volkswagen (VW), built on the MEB platform that is developed by the Volkswagen Group for a range of electric cars.
The Audi Q4 e-tron is a battery electric compact luxury crossover SUV produced by Audi. It is based on Volkswagen Group's electric MEB platform and is the fourth fully-electric model in the Audi e-tron series after the Audi Q8 e-tron, e-tron GT and Q2L e-tron. Production began in March 2021, with the production version being unveiled in April 2021.
The Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen ID.5 are battery electric compact crossover SUVs produced by Volkswagen. Based on the MEB platform, the ID.4 is the second model of the Volkswagen ID. series. The production version of the ID.4 debuted in September 2020 as the first fully-electric crossover SUV under the Volkswagen brand, while the coupe-shaped variant of the ID.4 is marketed as the Volkswagen ID.5 and was revealed in November 2021.
The Volkswagen ID.6 is a battery electric mid-size crossover SUV with three-row seating produced by Volkswagen in China from 2021. It is based on the MEB platform, and part of the ID. series electric vehicle line-up. In China, the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture will produce and market the ID.6 Crozz, whereas SAIC-Volkswagen will build and market the ID.6 X with a slightly altered styling. As of April 2022, it is the second largest vehicle of the Volkswagen ID. series, and the second largest built on the MEB platform.
The Cupra Born is a battery electric compact car/small family car (C-segment) marketed by SEAT through its performance-oriented Cupra marque. Initially unveiled as the SEAT el-Born concept in 2019, the production car was revealed in May 2021 as the Cupra Born. The Born is based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform and has been manufactured at the same plant in Zwickau, Germany, as the MEB-based Volkswagen ID.3. The car is named after a neighbourhood in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Premium Platform Electric (PPE) is a modular car platform for electric cars being developed by Volkswagen Group brands Audi and Porsche. The platform will be for larger electric vehicles which are not suitable for the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, although Audi will also build cars with the smaller platform. Details of the platform were first revealed in 2019, with Audi noting that it would have 2/3 assembling commonality with the MLB Evo platform. The first car officially announced for PPE was the Audi A6 e-tron.
The Audi Q5 e-tron is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV with three-row seating produced by Audi through the SAIC-VW joint venture in China. Based on the MEB platform, it is the fifth battery electric model in the Audi e-tron series. Closely related to the Q4 e-tron, the model is regarded as the Audi equivalent of the similarly sized Volkswagen ID.6, and not mechanically related to the Audi Q5 or the Q8 e-tron which use the MLB platform.
The Volkswagen ID.7 is a battery electric car produced by German marque Volkswagen since 2023. It has a five-door liftback design and is marketed in the E-segment.
The Ford Explorer is a battery electric compact crossover SUV (C-segment) produced by Ford through its European operations. Produced in the Cologne Body & Assembly in Germany and marketed mainly in Europe, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MEB platform, and uses Volkswagen supplied batteries. The vehicle shares its name and design inspiration with the larger SUV produced in the U.S., which is chosen by Ford "as a nod to our American heritage".