So far, over 37 million units have been sold in eight generations. Over the years, it has also become the standard of its class, which the Germans sometimes call “Golf-Klasse”. Although its production with an internal combustion engine will cease in a few years, the automaker will keep the famous name for the future model of the electric car.
The German automaker Volkswagen was one of the fastest growing manufacturers after the Second World War, with Beetles and small vans selling well all over the world. But by the 1960s it was becoming increasingly clear that the rear-mounted air-cooled engine concept was past its best years and the factory was going through rough years. It was able to overcome this only after a drastic change in the production program, which is symbolized by the VW Golf.
But the Golf was not the first Volkswagen to adopt the concept of “everything in the front” – i.e. with an engine under the front hood that drives the front axle. A year later it was overtaken by the larger Passat, which was the first positive result of the purchase of the Auto Union factory, which Volkswagen acquired in 1964 from the Daimler-Benz concern. Thanks to the experience of the original car manufacturer Audi, the development of the Golf, based on a completely different basis than previous cars from Wolfsburg, could also take just five years.
Customers for the new type of car – the hatchback – were also prepared for Volkswagen by others. The pre-war Citroën Traction Avant Commerciale is considered to be the first car with a folding rear, but the real boom came later. In 1961, Renault began to produce the immortal “four”, four years later came the Renault 16, which was declared the European car of the year 1966.
But none of the predecessors managed to attract as many customers as the Germans with their Golf. The compact German hatchback with a three- and five-door body, whose design is considered timeless and characterized by intergenerational continuity, is historically the third best-selling car in the world. Only the Toyota Corolla and Ford F-series models produced more. The Golf has long been one of the best-selling cars in Europe, in the years 2007 to 2021 it was at the top of the sales list. Twice it won the title in the European motoring survey Car of the Year, it was the Golf of the third generation (1992) and the seventh generation (2013).
The first generation, whose bodywork was designed by Giorgio Giugiaro, was produced until 1983 and a total of 6.8 million units left the factory. In addition to ordinary cars for ordinary drivers, there was also a “sharp version” of the GTI, introduced in March 1975. Already in the first generation of the Golf, the versions that still form the basis of the model line were presented. But the station wagon was missing, which the Golf only got in the third generation.
Over time, a number of derivatives based on the Golf appeared. In 1979, the hatchback-derived Jetta sedan rolled off the production lines, which in subsequent generations was called Vento and Bora on the European market. An MPV category called the Golf Plus and then the Sportsvan was also produced.
The first version of the Golf remained in the company’s production program the longest of all generations. Although they stopped producing it in Germany in 1983, the Karmann body shop still offered an elegant convertible for the next ten years, and the first-generation Golfs continued to roll out of the gates of the factory in Mexico under the name Volkswagen Caribe for some time.
While the shapes of the second generation changed only slightly compared to the first, the appearance of the third generation differed more significantly compared to the previous one. Motorists and automotive experts often consider the design of the fourth generation, which was produced between 1997 and 2003, to be the most successful. On the contrary, the following fifth, signed by the Turkish designer Murat Günak, was not very successful in terms of appearance, according to them.
The Golf is currently being produced in its eighth generation, which was introduced in October 2019. It is now only available as a five-door hatchback and a practical station wagon. Volkswagen said last year that it does not plan to produce a new generation Golf with an internal combustion engine. Volkswagen’s decision not to invest in upgrading the Golf is a sign that the automaker has decided to shift investment away from combustion engines and focus on reducing the cost of producing electric cars. But the Golf name will be retained for the future model of the electric car, which will probably hit the market in 2028 at the earliest.
Some of the Golf’s lower-middle class competitors are already clearing positions. For example, production of the Ford Focus, which pays for one of the Golf’s main rivals, will end in 2025 without a replacement. The reason is the declining interest in this Ford model and the brand wants to focus its attention on electric vehicles. Also, one of the main French competitors Renault Mégane will be available only in its electric version in about two years.
