Volkswagen is celebrating 50 years of the Golf with an intensive replace to its small hatch and wagon, bringing overhauled know-how, crisper styling, and a longer-range plug-in hybrid.
Manufacturing for the Australian market begins within the fourth quarter of 2024, with a launch anticipated for early 2025.
Extra particulars on the native vary, together with powertrains, shall be introduced nearer to launch.
As revealed in leaked photos, the up to date Golf has delicate styling modifications that carry a sharper look, with a restyled entrance bumper and LED headlights, and a light-weight bar stretching from the latter to a brand new, illuminated model of the Volkswagen brand.
Volkswagen’s IQ.Gentle matrix LED headlights can be found as earlier than, whereas down again there are new IQ.Gentle 3D LED tail lights.
New colors embrace Crystal Ice Blue, Anemone Blue, Oyster Silver, and Grenadilla Black metallic finishes, whereas there are new wheel designs.
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GTI
Inside, there’s a brand new MIB4 infotainment system with both 10.4- or 12.-inch touchscreens, that includes a brand new, less complicated menu construction with configurable shortcuts and management bars prime and backside that at all times stay seen.
Under the free-standing touchscreen are new contact sliders for temperature and quantity management that at the moment are illuminated.
A head-up show is accessible, whereas all fashions have a customisable 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster.
There’s an up to date multifunction steering wheel with bodily buttons, whereas the Golf debuts Volkswagen’s new IDA clever voice assistant.
That includes ChatGPT AI integration, IDA can be utilized to not solely management features just like the local weather management and navigation, but additionally to entry on-line data. It permits occupants to work together with the automotive utilizing pure language.
Different techniques have acquired an improve as nicely, together with the Golf’s semi-automatic parking help.
Park Help Plus can detect whether or not a parallel or bay parking spot is giant sufficient, and controls the steering, acceleration and braking because it eases the automotive into stated spot.
The Golf additionally will get Park Help Professional for the primary time, which allows drivers to information their Golf out and in of parking areas utilizing their smartphone. A surround-view digicam can also be obtainable for the primary time.
A brand new plug-in hybrid powertrain boasts electrical vary of “about 100km” – up from 50-60km presently – plus DC fast-charging functionality at as much as 50kW. VW additionally touts whole vary of round 1000km for the brand new PHEVs.
There continues to be a sprawling vary of powertrains, together with mild-hybrid (eTSI), plug-in hybrid (eHybrid and GTE), turbo-petrol (TSI) and turbo-diesel (TDI) choices. Volkswagen has additionally confirmed the GTI is getting a lift in energy, whereas the GTI Clubsport and R variations shall be revealed within the coming months.
That is set to be the final technology of Golf with internal-combustion energy, with the subsequent Mk9 technology to be electric-only.
Whereas overtaken by the T-Roc as Volkswagen’s greatest vendor each right here and in Europe, the Golf remains to be a major car for the model. Volkswagen has offered greater than 37 million Golfs to this point throughout eight generations.