New Volkswagen GTI brand name links the brand to an inevitable electric future

Volkswagen is updating the GTI logo for the electric era by replacing the last letter with a lightning bolt. The new logo was discovered in a trademark filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office.

The current GTI name stands for "Grand Touring Injection," which refers to fuel injection. However, with the logo update, the meaning of the acronym will have to change, and it's speculated that the "GTI" name will be repurposed.

The new logo was discovered by CarBuzz in a trademark application to the German Patent and Trademark Office.

One possibility is that the new logo may indicate that the car is only partially electrified. It's suggested that the GTX moniker, currently used for high-performance VW EVs, may fall away.

There's uncertainty about when the new logo will be used on new VW models, and it's expected to be some time before it appears on production vehicles, possibly at least a couple of years.