The Volkswagen Golf will reportedly be supplied with each combustion and battery-electric powertrains properly into the following decade.
Autocar studies {that a} closely up to date model of the lately launched Mk8.5 Volkswagen Golf will stay on sale – powered by inside combustion engines (ICE) – alongside the brand new ninth-generation battery-electric small automotive that’s as a consequence of launch in 2029 and is predicted to reach in Australia the next 12 months.
Volkswagen has beforehand stated it’s going to maintain promoting ICE variations of the present Golf till the European Union’s (EU) ban on the sale of latest automobiles with ICE powertrains in 2035, which stays in place regardless of resistance from some political teams in Europe.
Tons of of latest automotive offers can be found by way of CarExpert proper now. Get the consultants in your facet and rating an amazing deal. Browse now.
This is able to make the Mk8 Golf, launched in 2019, the longest-serving era of the enduring nameplate to serve in new-car showrooms, stretching to 16 years.
Petrol-electric hybrid variations are anticipated to be offered in the UK (UK) – the place the ban on the sale of ICE automobiles was moved ahead to 2032 when the present authorities received workplace in July 2024 – and the EU to satisfy emissions legal guidelines.
Volkswagen will transfer manufacturing of the ICE-powered Golf – at present made in Germany, China and Malaysia – to Mexico because it begins manufacturing of the battery-electric Golf in Wolfsburg.
The Mexico transfer additionally allows Volkswagen to supply non-hybrid petrol and diesel Golfs for South American and different markets the place there could also be no electrical automotive mandates or ICE restrictions.
The ninth-generation battery-electric Golf would be the first to make use of a devoted electrical car (EV) platform – the Volkswagen Group’s SSP (Scalable Methods Platform) – however its introduction was delayed by software program improvement points which have additionally impacted different electrical fashions from Audi and Porsche.
A partnership with US electrical truck maker Rivian – which Volkswagen Group additionally tapped for the relaunch of the Scout model – was introduced in mid-2024 with the goal of fast-tracking software program and EV improvement.
When sorted, the SSP will convey an 800V electrical structure, longer driving vary, 350kW DC fast-charging – together with bi-directional charging – and modular battery building.
The transfer to an electrical Golf received’t see the top of the German auto big’s legendary Golf GTI and Golf R efficiency fashions.
Volkswagen’s head of technical improvement, Kai Grünitz, beforehand confirmed the Golf GTI will stay on past 2028 – however stopped in need of confirming an electrical model of the enduring scorching hatch.
If an electrical Golf GTI is added to the lineup, it received’t seem till at the very least 2030, following the launch of the bread-and-butter lineup.
The upper-spec Golf R will go electrical too, with Volkswagen boss Thomas Schäfer telling Automobile journal in early 2024 that the following Golf R will make use of the SSP structure solely, that means it is going to be solely electrical.
Schäfer had beforehand stated Volkswagen can be “loopy” to kill off its GTI and R efficiency sub-brands within the Golf’s transfer to electrification.