Volkswagen will mark the 50th anniversary of the Golf next year with the introduction of a facelifted eighth-generation model, and company CEO Thomas Schäfer has hinted that it could be the last combustion-engined version of the world’s best-selling hatch.
Featuring updated styling, revised hybrid powertrains and a reworked cabin with larger displays and upgraded digital functions, it is set to be launched in the UK during the second half of next year.
The scheduling forms part of a strategy that will see the model cycle of the existing Golf extended beyond the traditional seven years of its predecessors, in line with VW’s planned transition to an all-electric European line-up by 2033.
As previously reported by Autocar, VW intends to offer the new Golf exclusively with a dual-clutch automatic gearbox in certain models, as part of efforts to further reduce its fleet-average CO2 emissions.
As with the upcoming third-generation Tiguan and the ninth-generation Passat, the 2024-model-year Golf adopts VW’s new MQB Evo platform.
It features a revised structure with stiffened mountings for the rear axle, among other changes that are claimed to boost its overall rigidity.
Uprated PHEVs
Volkswagen has focused much of its attention on the Golf’s plug-in hybrid powertrains. Both the eHybrid and GTE adopt the EA211 Evo turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in place of the older EA211 1.4-litre four-cylinder unit of today’s models.
In combination with a new-generation electric motor and an updated electronics package, this results in an 11bhp increase in power for the eHybrid, now with a claimed 212bhp, and a 15bhp increase for the GTE, to 256bhp, according to Autocar’s sources. A larger-capacity battery is also said to provide both models with a WLTP electric range of more than 62 miles.
New advanced tech
Insiders at VW’s Braunschweig R&D centre confirm efforts to accelerate the start-up process of the Golf’s infotainment system. The replacement of the original Qualcomm chipset with a more advanced Samsung unit in late 2021 is described as “just the first step” in a dramatic technology overhaul.
Among new driver assistance systems planned for the facelifted Golf is an updated Park Assistant with automated functionality. It allows the revamped hatch to be manoeuvred into parking spaces remotely via a smartphone, not only in a straight line but also with a degree of steering input. An additional Trained Park Assist function allows you to download parking manoeuvres up to 50 metres in length, enabling the Golf to autonomously park itself.
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Wow, if you needed to know how irrelevent Autocar has become then look no further than this article. Only 14 comments/posts about what has been, and still is, one of the car enthusiasts stalwarts still left. Autocar doing a Playboy!
Could it be that the i4 is killing off the popularity of the Golf?, the Golf is rapidly becoming the elder statesman of VW brand?
Peter, it has been nice reading your comments over the years, I regret to say that I am at the end of my tether with Autocar's continual freefall into obscurity, and will thus be departing this forum very shortly. I think many people who posted their displeasure at the way Autocar was going have been ignored, and consequently left to other pastures. Sad for me, I remember back in the day each Wednesday morning before I went to work eagerly buying the weekly copy of Autocar to get the latest news.
Boris, you will be a sad loss to this place if you stop posting, however i can totally understand your comments. There is so little of interest from Autocar these days, its a wonder they are still going. I live in hope they will change and go back to those good days you refer to, and i remember doing exactly the same on Wednesday mornings
It's somewhat ironic that one of the least appealing Golf models will probably have the longest production run. VW seems to have forgotten that the loyalty of dyed-in-the-wool brand aficianados was generated to a significant extent by excellent attention to detail in product assembly and execution. Adding a huge free-standing screen does not make up for corner-cutting (comparing with the brilliant Golf 7) such as propping up the bonnet with a cheap metal rod, removing the overhead spectacle cubby, removing trim embellishment and its lighting strip from the front sills, removing the lid of the soft battery cover, removing the flock lining from the glove box, removing the sliding lid from the centre console, adding more hard plastic to the door cards and then charging more for the privilege. Worst of all was the early release of a model afflicted with software glitches and illogical menus. I'll stick with my Mk 7 GTI that follows ownership of Mk1, Mk2, Mk3, Mk4 and Mk5 Golf models.
Kinda agree with most of your points having started myself in a Mk1 GTI, then a Mk2, but left the fold in 1984 for a 205GTI. Adjusted for inflation todays Golf GTI is about 7k more, but you do get a massively more capable vehicle, so for me its about the same value for money as it was in the past. Not sure when you last sat inside the early generations but they had plenty of hard plastic etc. I fully agree that the 'tech' and cabin changes for the Mk8 are a disaster, in the future the Mk 7 and 7.5 are going to be considered the high point for GTI's.
It's funny that golf buyers equate those cheap trinkets with quality and are willing to pay more and ignore cheap shoddy engineering and substandard quality. Maybe sheeple are starting to wake up and VW is having to try to engineer better quality cars and at the same time reduce costs.
I'm sorry Bambazonke, but when it copmes to VW Golfs, you don't know what you're talking about.Oh. Yes you do. My apologies.