Americans only see the two performance versions of the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf, but many have speculated that the automaker would electrify the car within the next few years. While that may become a reality, the company has pledged to retain internal combustion power into the 2030s.
Speaking at a Nurburgring event, VW CEO Thomas Schafer said, “Definitely in the 2030s, still strong presence of the ICE vehicles.” Sounds definitive, right? Not so fast. Schafer also said the cars could be a hybrid of some sort, noting that they would be “probably a little bit electrified.”
Volkswagen sells a plug-in hybrid version of the GTI in other markets, called the GTE. It sees 268 horsepower from its powertrain, more than America’s GTI, but less than variants sold in different countries. Americans lost the regular Golf a few years ago, leaving us with the GTI and Golf R. The 2024 model year was the last for manual transmissions in the cars destined for the U.S., leaving the excellent-but-less-engaging dual-clutch as the only option.
All of this said, VW has been clear that the next-generation cars will be EV-only. That would mean the eighth-gen Golf sticks around deep into the next decade, or until 2035 when the EU’s emissions regulations ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles.
[Images: Volkswagen]
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