Series production of the new Golf has started at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg: the first car from the technically and visually revamped eighth model generation to roll off the assembly line in Hall 12 today was a Golf Style in anemone blue metallic – almost exactly 50 years since the very first series Golf was built in Wolfsburg.
“The Golf has been at the heart of the Volkswagen brand for half a century, offering affordable mobility for all at the highest technical level. The Golf has constantly adapted to customer needs, thus becoming a global bestseller – made in Wolfsburg. This is precisely what we are building on with the new evolutionary stage – with even higher efficiency, comfort and quality and a new operating concept. The Golf does not get any better than this,” Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said.
Over the last five decades, Volkswagen’s main plant in Wolfsburg has in a sense become the “soul” of global Golf production: over half of the more than 37 million models of this king of the compact class sold to date – an average of 400,000 units per year – have been built at the main plant. This includes the “classic” Golf, now in its eighth generation, with various derivatives such as the Golf Variant and Golf Sportsvan, and a broad range of models and powertrains.
The new model is easily recognized by its modified front end. Visually defining features include the newly-designed LED headlights. The top-of-the-range IQ.LIGHT – LED matrix headlights incorporate a new high-performance main beam with a very high range. For the first time in a European Volkswagen, the Volkswagen logo in the radiator grille is also illuminated. The IQ.LIGHT – 3D LED tail light clusters have also received a new design – in both the Golf and the Golf Variant.
The interior features a new generation of infotainment system with even faster processors, a free-standing touchscreen (diagonal: 32.2 cm/12.9 inches) and an intuitive menu structure. The touch sliders for temperature and volume control are now illuminated. The latest digital instruments are also always on board as standard. Also new is the multifunction steering wheel with easy-to-use buttons and the IDA voice assistant with integrated ChatGPT function that can not only be used to control functions such as the air conditioning system, telephone or navigation system, but also to access online information on practically any topic – from flight details to general knowledge questions.
In terms of the powertrain range, in addition to the proven, efficient TSI, TDI and eTSI mild hybrid drives, the Golf update also offers two new plug-in hybrids with an electric range of well over 100 km and a combined range of some 1,000 km, as well as a DC quick-charging function.
The Volkswagen Group’s largest car manufacturing plant had another reason to celebrate this week, too. Just a few days before the new Golf went into production, the factory celebrated the 48 millionth vehicle to leave the assembly line; no other automotive plant worldwide has built anywhere near as many vehicles as the factory in Wolfsburg. It goes without saying that the anniversary model was a Golf. The model in urano grey is already on its way to a customer in the United Kingdom. “48 million is an impressive figure that would never have been possible without a motivated and skilled workforce,” Jürgen Mahnkopf, Deputy Chair of the General and Group Works Councils, said. “Our employees have put their heart and soul into every single vehicle that has been built here over the last 50 years.”
With a production volume of some 20 million vehicles, the Golf is the most-built model at the plant. Second place goes to the Beetle, with almost 12 million units produced in Wolfsburg between 1945 and 1975. The Tiguan now occupies third place, with just under 3.5 million models rolling off the assembly lines since start of production in 2007. It has overtaken the Polo, where production of more than three million units at the site on the Mittelland Canal began in 1975. “The connection between the Golf and the Wolfsburg plant is quite unique: Wolfsburg is the Golf – and the Golf is Wolfsburg,” Plant Manager Rainer Fessel said. “As a team we have meticulously planned the start of production over the past weeks and months. Now we are delighted we will soon be seeing the new Golf on the roads.”