Volkswagen retires ID.4 and ID.5 names as ID. Tiguan readies for early 2027 arrival

Volkswagen confirms the ID. Tiguan and retires two ID. nameplates

Volkswagen has announced that its next electric SUV will be called the ID. Tiguan, retiring the ID.4 and ID.5 nameplates in the process. The brand says the new model will arrive at markets at the beginning of 2027, with its world premiere to take place in early October and the vehicle to continue testing under camouflage wrap until then. Volkswagen describes the ID. Tiguan as a new-generation electric SUV with a completely new design and the visual presence of a vehicle from the next segment up, and it will be sold alongside the Tiguan with combustion and hybrid powertrains. The announcement was carried by the Volkswagen Newsroom press release, which notes the model follows the ID. Polo and ID. Cross as the third major Volkswagen name to enter the electric era. ²

GoAuto reported the change as the retirement of both the ID.4 and ID.5 nameplates, with the ID. Tiguan making its world premiere in early October ahead of an international market launch from early 2027. The publication's report notes the move is the latest step in Volkswagen's shift towards familiar established names for its battery-electric models, following the ID. Polo and ID. Cross, and that the strategy is intended to give customers clearer orientation within the expanding electric range. ¹

The ID.5, the coupé-roofed version that Volkswagen had already removed from the range, will not return under a new electric name — AutoNext reports it will not come back as an ID. Tayron or an ID. Touareg either, and the ID. Tiguan takes over from the ID.4 alone. ³

Why the Tiguan name matters: eight million cars and a best-selling badge

Volkswagen brand chief executive Thomas Schäfer framed the decision around the weight the Tiguan name carries. “More than 8.3 million Tiguan vehicles produced demonstrate the strength and trust associated with this model name,” he said in Volkswagen's statement, adding that the Tiguan “represents a versatile, premium vehicle and embodies the essence of True Volkswagen” and that the all-electric model carries that product promise into the electric future. ²

The company's release sets out the nameplate's commercial weight: the Tiguan is currently the best-selling model worldwide for both the Volkswagen brand and the Volkswagen Group, and in the past year deliveries of the Tiguan and its sister model, the Tayron, exceeded one million units. Volkswagen also points to more than 950,000 ID.4 and ID.5 deliveries since 2021, ranking the pair among the group's most successful battery-electric model series. GoAuto's report cites the same production and delivery figures in covering the announcement. ²¹

AutoNext adds historical context: since its 2007 launch the Tiguan has sold more than nine million cars worldwide and has been the group's best-selling model since 2017, ahead of the Golf, with output peaking at around 911,000 cars in 2019. The name originated in a readers' poll run by Auto Bild, combining tiger and Leguan, the German word for iguana. The two publications' production totals differ — AutoNext cites more than nine million cars sold since 2007, while Volkswagen's own release cites more than 8.3 million produced — and the figures have not been reconciled. ³²

Design, platform and the hardware Volkswagen is keeping quiet about

Volkswagen has released images of a lightly disguised ID. Tiguan prototype, and Carscoops reports the design moves closer to the combustion Tiguan than the visually distinct ID.4 and ID.5 did. The publication identifies sleek LED headlights and daytime running lights, a black lower grille, small air curtains at the bumper edges, low-set wing mirrors, roof rails and chunky conventional door handles replacing the ID.4's flap-style items, along with a new rear bumper, tailgate and window. It notes the prototype's taillights do not appear to be production-spec units, and that Volkswagen released images of two different versions without explaining the differences. ⁴

On the mechanical side, Carscoops says the ID. Tiguan is tipped to be built on Volkswagen's MEB+ platform, contrasting that with the outgoing ID.4's relatively small 58 kWh and 79 kWh battery options and expecting larger and more efficient packs. GoAuto likewise reports European indications that the newcomer will use an evolution of Volkswagen's MEB electric architecture rather than moving immediately to the forthcoming SSP platform, while significant changes are expected inside and out. Both are expectant rather than confirmed by Volkswagen. ⁴¹

Volkswagen is withholding the technical detail until the premiere. AutoNext reports that range, battery and price figures have not been released, with only the dates confirmed, and that journalists have driven camouflaged prototypes under embargo. GoAuto similarly states that battery capacities, power outputs, range, charging performance, dimensions and interior technology are expected at the October reveal. ³¹

Timing, Europe first, and the North American picture

The confirmed timeline is European-first. Volkswagen's release says the ID. Tiguan will arrive at markets at the beginning of 2027 after the early-October world premiere, and Carscoops reports it will land in European markets at the beginning of 2027 and also be offered in North America “at a later date”, without further detail. ²⁴

Volkswagen of America has supplied more on the US question. In a statement emailed to WardsAuto, the company said: “The ID. Tiguan is planned to succeed the ID.4 in the North American market. Following its European launch in early 2027, Volkswagen will share North American timing and additional market-specific details in due course.” WardsAuto also notes Volkswagen has not confirmed where it will source the US-market ID. Tiguan, and that ID.4 assembly at the Chattanooga plant ended as part of an April decision to focus on higher-volume models for North American growth; the site's recent ID.4 US sales peak was 37,789 units in 2023. ⁵

AutoNext reports the ID. Tiguan reaches dealers early in 2027, days after an early-October premiere ahead of the Paris Motor Show, and notes the petrol Tiguan stays in the range so Volkswagen showrooms will soon carry two Tiguans side by side. WardsAuto adds that with the ID. Tiguan and a future US-bound Tiguan Hybrid confirmed, Volkswagen will field a RAV4- and CR-V-class family spanning petrol, hybrid and fully electric variants. ³⁵

The wider naming retreat from numbers

The ID. Tiguan is the latest step in Volkswagen's move away from the numbered ID. line that began with the ID.3 in 2019, following the ID. Polo and ID. Cross. AutoNext reports the ID. Polo is sold out in Europe with a ten-month queue after more than 30,000 orders, and that a €20,000 city car due in 2027 will be called ID. Up, while the ID.3 and ID.7 keep their numbers for now. GoAuto's analysis of the naming logic is that electric hatchbacks become ID. Polo, T-Cross-sized electric SUVs become ID. Cross and the medium electric SUV becomes ID. Tiguan, with the ID. prefix retained to mark the battery-electric member of an established family. ³¹

AutoNext also documents how the ID.4's identity problem preceded the change: the car debuted in September 2020 as Volkswagen's first fully electric crossover and was named World Car of the Year in 2021, but the publication argues the numeric name told buyers where the car sat in a range rather than what it was. ³

Australia: ID.4 and ID.5 freshly arrived, no ID. Tiguan commitment yet

For Australia, the announcement lands soon after the ID.4 and ID.5 finally reached local showrooms. GoAuto reports Volkswagen Group Australia waited roughly four-and-a-half years after the ID.4's original European launch, holding the model back until an extensive mid-life update delivered the range, performance, specification and pricing it believed Australian buyers expected. The rear-wheel-drive ID.4 Pro was priced from $59,990 plus on-road costs with more than 500 km of claimed driving range, a list price that sits on a different basis to any future drive-away figure and should not be compared with one. ¹

GoAuto quotes Volkswagen Australia passenger vehicles product manager Arjun Nidigallu on that launch: “The purpose of this model for our line-up and the future of our line-up was very clear – we wanted to make it accessible to as many people as possible and make it the foundation of our ID product in Australia. So, we had to come strongly in the market, and for those reasons the price point is really sharp.” Volkswagen Australia has yet to confirm whether the ID. Tiguan will succeed the ID.4 and ID.5 locally, although GoAuto notes its positioning would make it a logical electric companion to the existing Tiguan range, which has recently gained the Tiguan eHybrid with outputs of up to 200 kW and 400 Nm. ¹

Should the ID. Tiguan reach Australia, it would join a reshaped local electric portfolio — though GoAuto also notes Volkswagen Australia has yet to confirm the production ID. Cross, an MEB+ -based electric alternative to the T-Cross offering up to 427 km of WLTP range in its highest-output guise. Until Volkswagen Australia commits, the overseas plan should not be read as a local launch promise. ¹