The Golf 8 is due for a facelift in 2024. It also appears that the ninth generation of the compact will be electric.
Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer told Spanish magazine AutoBild that an update to the compact hatchback will be introduced sometime in 2024. In the long term, the German brand plans to keep the “Golf” name alive for the ninth generation. However, management believes it should be an electric model, he writes Engine1.
In a previous interview with German publication Die Welt, Thomas Schäfer suggested that the ninth could be called the “ID. Golf”. It could be placed between the ID.3 and ID.2, models due to be launched in 2025. Volkswagen has made it clear that the zero-emission Golf will have nothing in common with the ID.2 model.
Volkswagen is not giving up on the Golf
The ninth generation of the Golf is still far away. Given that the current-generation facelift will be on sale for a few years after 2024, we’ll still have to wait. Meanwhile, the updated Golf will bring a larger infotainment system. It could be the same 12-inch touchscreen that will debut on ID.3 facelift soon.
A “quality offensive” is planned for future Volkswagen models, as is a return to conventional buttons on the steering wheel. This comes after the company was criticized for its clunky, touch-sensitive controls, which customers find difficult to use. A new design language is also in the works in an attempt to regain the ground it has lost to Toyota in the global sales race.
In 2022, the Japanese brand was number one worldwide, with almost 10.5 million vehicles, while the entire Volkswagen Group sold only 8.3 million cars. The brand saw its deliveries fall 6.8% to 4.56 million vehicles.
