Volkswagen Plans to Extend Current Golf Amid Shift to Electric Future
Volkswagen plans to make the next-generation Golf an electric vehicle, with plans for a release toward the end of 2024; this doesn’t necessarily spell the end for the current internal combustion engine (ICE) Golf within the next five years (2029). According to Kai Grünitz, Volkswagen’s head of technical development, the Mk8 Golf could remain in production until around 2035.
In an interview with the Dutch edition of *Top Gear* magazine, Grünitz mentioned that the current Golf might still be available in showrooms until the European Union’s 2035 deadline for banning new cars with harmful emissions. Even after this point, ICE vehicles may continue selling if they run on carbon-neutral synthetic fuels. Interestingly, the MQB platform that supports the current Golf dates back to the Mk7, which premiered in 2012, despite the Mk8’s debut in late 2019. Volkswagen has a history of extending platform usage, as seen with the sixth-generation Golf, which was a significant facelift of the Mk5 and remained in production for 13 years until the Golf Cabriolet’s discontinuation in 2016.
Grünitz describes the current Golf Mk8 as “MQB perfection,” suggesting no urgent need for a new platform. These issues have reportedly been resolved despite early software glitches that impacted the Golf and its sibling models—the Skoda Octavia, SEAT Leon, and Audi A3. Although Golf has recently received a facelift, it may see further updates if Volkswagen intends to keep the model until 2035. Fans are hopeful about the return of features such as manual transmission in the GTI and R models and perhaps even the introduction of the R wagon in the U.S. market. However, these are still just speculative wishes.
Grünitz also hinted that the Golf may be on the verge of discontinuation before 2035, potentially due to factors other than emissions regulations. For instance, Volkswagen Group’s Porsche brand discontinued the Macan and 718 Boxster/Cayman in the EU because complying with new cybersecurity laws would have been prohibitively expensive. The same could happen with the Golf if future regulations make it too costly to continue production.
Even if the Mk8 Golf remains in production until 2035, its potential 15-year lifecycle wouldn’t be unprecedented. The original Mk1 Golf, launched in 1974, was succeeded by the Mk2 in the 1980s. Still, the Mk1-based Citi Golf continued production in South Africa from 1984 until 2009, achieving an impressive 25-year run, or 35 years if the original Mk1 Golf is included.
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