Volkswagen is “just a few weeks away” from unwrapping the long-awaited ‘Mk8.5’ Golf hatchback, but new images give an early look at the redesigned hatchback.
The facelifted Golf has been previewed with a camouflaged prototype in hot GTI guise at CES in Las Vegas, and a display in the overhauled infotainment system has revealed the look of the redesigned front end.
As suggested by lightly camouflaged prototypes in recent weeks, the changes are not extensive, but a new treatment for the lower grille, reshaped air intakes and new light designs mark it out obviously from the current car. These animations only show the front end, but the rear is expected to bear a similar overhaul, too.
The updated Golf will be available for pre-order in the spring, around four years after the current car arrived in dealerships.
Importantly, 2024 also marks 50 years since the Golf replaced the Beetle as Volkswagen’s core model.
Since then, more than 37 million examples have been sold globally, making it comfortably the 86-year-old company’s – and Europe’s – best-selling car of all time.
This latest iteration, while not radically different in its overall design, is charged with renewing and sustaining the appeal of the eighth-generation Golf until it is replaced by the electric-only Mk9 at the end of the decade.
Chief among the upgrades for 2024 will be a revised interior, which majors on improvements to ergonomics, quality and functionality – areas in which VW has admitted its current cars fall short.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer told Autocar last year that widespread criticism of the interiors of its current cars – including the Golf – “definitely did a lot of damage” to the brand, which the firm is looking to rectify with a new approach to cockpit design.
To that end, the new Golf features a redesigned dashboard, which now houses a larger, 12.9in central infotainment display, working in tandem with a 10.4in digital instrument cluster and running the latest generation of VW’s MIB infotainment platform.
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10 CATCHPA images before I can login, do Autocar want to discourage comment.
Anyway to the Golf 8.5 corrects faults that shouldn't have been there to begin with. No proper heater controls a la Sköda but voice actuation, if it works!
Lipstick on a pig?
Well, as you can see the last post was August 23' ,and, apart from the disenchanted posters having there go at Autocar page content , there's no dyed in the Wool Golf enthusiasts putting up any positive feedback of this half hearted attempt ar reviving the Golf and the GTi which was there iconic model.