Volkswagen trademarks electric GT⚡ logo: What could it be for?

Volkswagen has filed a new GTI logo to the German Patent and Trade Mark Office [↗] – all but confirming hot electric GTI models are coming.

First discovered by CarBuzz [↗], the logo has replaced the ‘I’ for a lightning bolt as a symbol for electric power, while retaining the familiar serif-type font.

Volkswagen’s ‘GTI’ badge originally stood for ‘Grand Touring Injection’, back when the concept of fuel injection was new and worth marketing as a feature. It debuted on the Mk1 Golf in 1975.

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The German automaker also has the GTE badge on its shelf, which has only appeared on the plug-in hybrid Golf small car since 2014 overseas.

The local arm has confirmed the Golf GTE will finally reach Australia by next year.

Is it just another joke?

In 2021, Volkswagen Group of America released a controversial April Fool’s Day joke that potentially misled investors into believing the company would be renamed to ‘Voltswagen’.

The company currently only applies the GTI badge on the Polo and Golf warm hatches, with the R badge reserved for more hyper models including the T-Roc, Golf, Tiguan and Touareg.