The countdown to the Golf VIII continues with the lookback at the Golf MK VII.

• Golf MkVII has been available with electric and hybrid drive systems since 2014
• First Volkswagen based on the modular transverse matrix (MQB)
• Press conference livestream on Thursday from 12.30 pm

The countdown is under way: tomorrow, Volkswagen will introduce a major update of the Golf thus continuing the success story of this bestseller. It began in 1974, with the debut of the first-generation Golf. 

The update of the seventh Golf generation in 2012 – the first Volkswagen model based on the modular transverse matrix (MQB) – brought about a car that was connected with its environment more than ever, establishing a new type of digital display and control elements in the segment and bringing assistance systems from the luxury class into the compact class.

Retrospective: 2012. Joachim Gauck is the eleventh President in Germany. Hurricane Sandy turns all the lights off in New York. In England, Adele's new album “21” becomes the best-selling album of the 21st century thus far. And in Berlin, Volkswagen presents the seventh generation of the Golf. It is up to 100 kg lighter and impresses with an armada of new assistance systems. In 2013 it was awarded the internationally prestigious “Car of the Year” title. From 2014 onwards, the Golf MkVII is the first model in its class to be available with both pure electric drive (e-Golf) and with a plug-in hybrid drive (Golf GTE).

Thanks to MQB, it is not only new technologies that reign supreme in the Golf – the design also gains a new dynamism due to its entirely new proportions. The front wheels are significantly further forward.

Consequently the front overhang is shorter while the bonnet appears longer. Head of Design at Volkswagen Klaus Bischoff: “The vehicle cab is shifted backward in visual terms, resulting in the so-called ‘cab backward impression’. That is the name given to the proportions of vehicles from classes above, where the bonnet is long and the cab is located further toward the rear. The new Golf MkVII therefore has the type of proportions usually only seen in higher segments.” Klaus Bischoff and his team have now further honed this design. On 10 November in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen will introduce the new look of the Golf along with new assistance, infotainment and drive systems.