PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen I.D. upstages Golf 7.5

Volkswagen has denied it postponed the world debut of its facelifted Golf '7.5' at last week's Paris motor show to instead focus its limelight on the groundbreaking I.D. concept.

The I.D. is the first in an entirely new range of electric vehicles due on sale globally from 2020, and Volkswagen will use subsequent motor shows to unveil further members of its upcoming EV family, including a coupe-crossover and a reborn Kombi people-mover.

Based around an all-new dedicated-EV platform dubbed MEB, Volkswagen says the battery-electric I.D. will offer a driving range of up to 600km for a similar price as a diesel Golf, meaning it will cost about half as much as BMW's i3 but deliver about double the range.

In short, provided it's charged with green energy not from a coal-fired power station, the I.D. represents a significant make-good for Volkswagen's Dieselgate emissions scandal, which the company admits fast-forwarded its EV strategy.

"In retrospect we don't know if we would have taken the same decision or not," said Volkswagen's board member for sales and marketing, Juergen Stackman, confirming the EV plan was established only within the past eight months in response to Dieselgate.

"I would say that, because I have only been at Volkswagen now for under one year, that we have taken the key decision to make this move in the first three months of a new Volkswagen board.

"I think this may have been a key enabler of having a whole new team composed together and looking at how we all project our future of Volkswagen with the brand and re-create the strength of the brand. Whether you call it an enabler or not, we didn't take it light-heartedly because we knew it had a huge impact on our other investments.

"We had to make our priorities clear and we were firm and fast and we're happy we can now come to Paris eight months later with a technology kit that is in full development and a firm commitment for the whole technology to be developed within three years.

"Volkswagen is in a massive change and massive cultural shift in opening itself up and inviting outside energy in, and this should happen in a very short time frame. We know it's stressed but that is exactly why we believe the company needs to truly get moving and not only overcome some of the last year's issues but also to get ready for a positive commitment for the future.

"We realised fast we needed to take some changes and we couldn't stay how we were."

Stackman said Dieselgate -- which has so far cost Volkswagen close to $20 billion, to fix the deceptive software in more than eight million vehicles globally, as well as compensate US owners and prepare for significant legal costs and regulatory fines – had not yet impacted any investment in future model programs.

"It has put the total resources under extreme pressure ... but it is our job to not have any normal new car programs affected by the work. Most of the changes are to our internal work procedures with many more controls and check points along the way.

"Looking at the financial burden of all this … this is money we could have used in a different way to our customer's benefit at the same time. But it doesn't really change our planning. We are going forward full hearted and we are showing here a really comprehensive plan to introduce a family of electric cars, starting in 2020. This is a big investment in the future."

Stackman denied Volkswagen's electric car rollout postponed the world debut of the company's facelifted Golf, which motoring.com.au understands was to have appeared for the first time at Paris but will now be shown at a stand-alone event in Europe in November.

Due in Australian showrooms by mid-2017, the upgraded version of Volkswagen's global best-seller is expected to bring minor cosmetic updates, more safety features and improved infotainment and other in-car technologies.

As previewed by the latest e-Golf EV, the latter should include Volkswagen's most up-to-date MirrorLink multimedia platform and at the least the option of its new 12.3-inch Active Info Display digital instruments.

"It was never meant to be shown here in Paris," he said. "It was simply not the show and the time to display that car now.

"It was really about telling all of our stakeholders where the brand is going -- a major shift, not out of diesel engines or petrol engines, that we have taken a real commitment and that Volkswagen is not playing with electric energy, it is really serious about this."