Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest automakers, but it hasn’t been smooth sailing in recent years.
As VW Group tackles financial headwinds and increasing competition on the global stage, plan A involves cutting its model portfolio by about half in the coming years. We know that thanks to CEO Oliver Blume, and while we don’t know which cars are going away just yet, a new report by German outlet Bild (and circulated by English-language sites) references a list of 10 cars we could possibly see disappear from Volkswagen’s plethora of global brands pretty soon. Here in the U.S., that includes the Volkswagen Jetta, the small Taos SUV, and the Porsche Taycan.
Now, to be clear, only the news that Volkswagen plans to cut its lineup by 50% and available options by up to 75% are the only confirmed pieces of information at this point. The automaker is not officially commenting on what models are dying just yet, though it naturally will need to cull several model lines to reduce production, and by extension cut cuts. It did say some action to reduce complexity in its portfolio would happen with “immediate effect”, though, so it’s likely at least part of this list will be official before too long.
The core brand is being pared down to its best-selling (and most profitable) SUVs.
While we may see these models continue for another year or two, VW may drop its most affordable options like the Jetta and Taos from the lineup in the near-term future. The Jetta has been a hallmark of the lineup for more than 40 years, so that would be a huge part of the brand’s former identity gone. (That said, we already lived this story to an extent with the Passat, so it’s not unprecedented). It’s also still reasonably popular, gaining about 10% in sales volume (15,949 units) through the first half of 2026.
The Taos, by comparison, is far more recent, though it is a model that rounds out the automaker’s SUV-heavy lineup here in America. It’s also suffering a sales slump right now, selling just 7,794 units through the first six months of this year — a 44% drop. Again, Volkswagen has not confirmed that it’s dropping either the Taos or the Jetta here in the U.S. yet, let alone why it would discontinue either one. Just looking at the numbers, though, VW’s fortunes in our market clearly lie in the Tiguan, which saw a 152% increase in sales this year, and the larger Atlas.
Other targets on Bild‘s hit list include the aforementioned Porsche Taycan, while the Cayenne Coupe may also be living on borrwed time. The Audi Q5 Sportback and Q6 e-tron are supposedly on the chopping block, and we may not see a next-generation 718 Boxster or Cayman at all.
Since Volkswagen’s lineup is already pretty lean in the U.S. — if you’re in China, you have dozens of models to choose from, for example — we’ll have to wait and see whether this report actually comes to fruition. It’s extremely unlikely that the automaker would cut any further, apart from possibly scrapping its plans to reintroduce the ID.Buzz or ID.4 to our market after all. The Golf is even more iconic than the Jetta, though, so it’s tough to imagine VW would resort to scrapping that model, even if it’s not as hot a seller in America.
