THE MQB-A0 is the platform currently used by B and C segment models within the Volkswagen Group, namely the Skoda Fabia, Kamiq and Scala, the Volkswagen Polo, T-Cross and Taigo, the SEAT Ibiza and Arona and the Audi A1.
However, it was the work developed by Skoda in adapting the MQB-A0 for the Indian market, giving rise to the MQB-A0-IN (and the Skoda Kushaq, the first model to take advantage of it), that ensured the passage of witness of future developments. from this global platform to the Czech constructor, which happens for the first time.
This means that the Volkswagen Group's next-generation, more affordable models for so-called emerging markets — India, Latin America, Russia, Africa and Southeast Asia (ASEAN) — will be developed by Skoda.
It is very difficult to see in Europe the commercialization of models that will derive from this evolution of the MQB-A0. This platform continues and will continue to be, fundamentally, optimized to receive internal combustion engines, a solution, as far as we have seen, with no future in the “old continent” for the lower segments of the market.
The same is not true in other regions of the world, such as those mentioned above. According to figures put forward by the Volkswagen Group, based on independent studies, there should be a 58% increase in sales of new vehicles with internal combustion engines over the next 10 years, to 7.5 million units per year, and up to 8.5 million over the next five years.
With the price still being the most sensitive factor in the lower segments of these markets and with electrification lagging behind in relation to others, such as Europe or China, the solution will necessarily have to go through maintaining the internal combustion engine.
Given the flexibility we already know about the MQB-A0, it is to be expected that all types of models will continue to derive from it: from SUVs, such as the aforementioned Skoda Kushaq, to conventional SUVs and small familiars, such as compact sedans (a still popular typology in India and other Asian markets).
As for the “European” MQB-A0 models, they should progressively leave the market over the course of this decade with the arrival of 100% electric successors, based on the smaller MEB variant that is also being developed at the Czech brand's facilities in Mladah Boleslav.