VW design team builds ‘confident’ new SUV on Xpeng’s electric platform

Volkswagen’s collaboration with Xpeng has been a resounding success if our conversation with Wolfsburg’s lead exterior designer is anything to go by. However, it is not so much a story of two brand studios working in tandem, and more an example of how one platform can support markedly different designs. 

The ID.Unyx 08 is a sleek electric SUV that shares the same 800V platform that underpins the Xpeng G9. Production has started in Hefei, as our sister publication Automotive Manufacturing Solutions reported earlier this week, and comes as part of Volkswagen’s “In China, for China” strategy. A key goal? Speed.

The project at large was completed in 24 months – an achievement in itself – but the design phase was even faster, taking less than a year. Speaking to Car Design News, VW’s project lead explained that this was enabled by effectively working around the clock in shifts with the ‘VCTC’ technical development team in Hefei.

“We were faced with a challenge but turned it into an advantage,” says Frank Bruese, head of exterior design for VW-Anhui, who is based in Wolfsburg. “We would work during the day and share our design data with VCTC in the evening. While we logged off, they would log on and evaluate the data, and we could all catch up when those shifts crossed over. This automatically cut 50% of the development time without any compromise in design quality.” 

In leveraging the G9’s electric platform, Bruese and his team had a slightly different package to what they are used to. He cites the increased dash-to-axle ratio, noting that on this car “it is about 100 millimetres bigger than any other Volkswagen, which gives it a different attitude.”

Dash-to-axle is a key design consideration and varies hugely between segments. A short ratio can typically be found with A-segment cars and those that prioritise space. A longer ratio can usually be identified by a stretched bonnet and is synonymous with grand tourers. Bruese points to more extreme examples – the ultra-stretched bonnets of Ferraris and Rolls-Royces, and more recently with the Jaguar Type 00 concept – to push the point home.

“It gives attitude and a laid-back feeling to the car, which is great because we really tried to push the car away from the traditional Volkswagen feel,” he explains. “It also ensures we have no similarities with the Xpeng [G9] – plus the wheelbase is about 40mm longer – which ensures we are not in direct competition.” 

Indeed, it is the platform that defines Xpeng’s role in this collaboration. Once Volkswagen’s team received the data and proportional model based on the G9 platform they began shaping how the ID.Unyx 08 would look, building on the ID.ERA concept shown in Shanghai last year. The similarities between the two are clear, but the production car is somehow more distinctive than its concept. 

Later in the design process, VW’s technical development team worked more closely with the Xpeng engineers when it came to the integration of ADAS systems. From a design perspective, this influenced the distinctive drop in the nose below the bonnet line, necessary for the radar sensor to function optimally.

Bruese notes that the quick nature of the project sharpened the team’s decision-making, and there was seemingly an emotional buy-in from senior management too. “It was so exciting and special that we managed to achieve this so quickly. Rather than waiting two or three months between milestones, it was four weeks. And even if peoples’ calendars were exploding, they always found time for us, to make a decision and proceed. This really gave [the design team] a feeling of importance.” 

The nature of Volkswagen design in China is a little nebulous, but it can effectively be split into three chunks, each with its own design language: SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen and Volkswagen-Anhui. It is the latter which worked with Xpeng on this project, and for the Unyx brand operates under the mantra of “unconventional, dominant and avant garde.”

“Andy [Mindt, the new Group head of design] pushed us quite a lot to really consider this, where is the avant garde part, where is the unconventional part, and so on,” notes Bruese. “And that’s why this car has such a strong personality – it’s full of unconventional details and solutions, and that’s also why it is quite different to what you would normally expect from Volkswagen.” 

That design mantra has manifested in numerous ways, but perhaps most evident in the front light signature which is much sharper – glaring even – compared to the usual approachable face of a Golf or ID.3. Bruese explains the idea stemmed from an exploration of ‘confidence’ and was eventually drawn to footage of Usain Bolt’s starting procedure before a 100m sprint. “We had this picture of him looking up, focused on the finishing line.”

To soften that ever so slightly is a crease in the front mask – which in pictures really does not show up that well – and gives the impression of a smile. “You really have to see it in the metal,” says Bruese.

Reflecting on the project at large, the long-time Volkswagen designer – who joined in 2001 – reflects that Xpeng is doing strong work itself and is quite impressed with how the brand goes about its business: “Their design is getting better and better, so for me this is one of the companies that is really pushing things in the Chinese market.”

A second Volkswagen-Xpeng model is slated to enter production this year, we suspect in a different bodyshape and perhaps following the design principles of another recent China-only concept car from the trio shown at Shanghai 2025. Conjecture, for now, of course.

As part of this month's focus on design tools, the strategy of data-sharing between teams on separate continents is also worth noting. Would this have been possible without the strides that have been made in modelling and visualisation software? It is doubtful.