The Volkswagen Golf Could Stick Around for Another Decade or More
Rumors of the gas-powered Volkswagen Golf’s demise might be overblown. Company executives recently stated that the car could stay in production until 2035, which aligns with the EU’s plan to ban internal combustion vehicles.
That would leave the eighth-generation Golf on sale for around 15 years globally, though it rides on a platform that dates back much longer than that. The automaker believes that the MQB platform reached its pinnacle in the newest Golf, so there’s no need to fix what isn’t broken.
While it might be sticking around for a while, VW has trimmed the lineup, removing the manual gearbox option. The Golf GTI and Golf R sold in America also got a facelift heading into the new model year, giving them a larger interior screen and revised styling.
Despite VW’s insistence that the cars aren’t going anywhere, shifting regulations in Europe could bump the Golf’s discontinuation up by a few years. The EU’s new cybersecurity rules led Porsche to cut the 718 Boxster, 718 Cayman, and Macan from its lineup there, so it will come down to dollars and cents for the decision on whether to keep the gas-only Golf up and running.
We’ve been hearing so much about a potential electric Golf model that this statement might seem like a complete surprise, but it aligns somewhat with other automakers’ decisions to keep gas or hybrid models in production while also rolling out new electric models. EV demand forecasts are all over the map, leading companies to hedge their bets with less expensive vehicles.
[Images: Volkswagen]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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