Volkswagen has trademarked four names: e-Beetle, e-Karmann, e-Kübel, and e-Golf Classic with the European Union Intellectual Property Office
In a latest development, Volkswagen appears to have secured naming rights for a slew of electric vehicles that could effectively bring back some of the iconic nameplates. With European authorised agency, VW has trademarked as many as four names with the ‘e’ prefix and they are e-Beetle, e-Karmann, e-Kübel, and e-Golf Classic as shown on European Union Intellectual Property Office’s website.
The German auto giant has recently been expanding its SUV and crossover portfolio alongside reducing its reliance on internal combustion engines. The aforementioned four names point the finger at a set of new all-electric vehicles. Earlier, Volkswagen announced its intentions to develop an electric variant of the Kombi as a people mover and a van could be in the pipeline in the near future.
In a report emerged three years back, Herbert Diess reckoned that the Beetle would be better off as an electric vehicle with rear-wheel-drive configuration. Volkswagen stopped the production of the legendary Beetle nameplate last year after 21 years of being in the business.
Considered to be the successor of Type 1, about 17 million Beetles were estimated to have had rolled out of production lines at Cuautlancingo plant in Mexico. In total, there were three versions of the Beetle on sale and the cumulative global sales stood at more than 22.5 million units as it trailed only the Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla in popularity.
In the aftermath of the diesel gate, VW fast tracked its attention towards building zero-emission vehicles and the Beetle had no place in its range. But the ‘e-Beetle’ trademark suggests otherwise as we could see it making a return in the coming years. Similarly, the e-Karmann seems to resurrect the Karmann Ghia, a two-door sports car manufactured between 1955 and 1974.
The e-Kübel appears to refer to the Type 181 known as the Volkswagen Thing. The e-Golf Classic could pay homage to the original Golf and all four models could sit on the MEB electric platform as the versatile ‘skateboard’ concept allows for different body types. VW was recently reported to have licensed the MEB architecture to Ford.