Just in time for the Volkswagen Golf's 50th anniversary, the facelifted Mk8 Golf is about to go on sale.
It'll go on sale on Thursday 11th April, to be exact, and prices for the 2024 Volkswagen Golf are set to start from £27,035.
Life and Style trim levels are available from launch, while the sporty-looking R-Line trim launches in two weeks' time. The hatchback is also offered in a well-equipped Match trim level.
The starting price of just over £27,000 gets you a Golf hatch in Life trim with the new 115hp 1.5-litre petrol engine with a manual gearbox. You'll need to pay £28,400 to get the Golf Estate in the same trim. Meanwhile, top-spec R-Line starts from £30,285 for the hatchback and £31,650 for the estate, both with a 150hp 1.5-litre petrol.
Golf eHybrid, GTI and GTE versions will follow this summer.
Inside, the touchscreen looks the same but runs a new infotainment system, which is said to be more intuitive than before. It’ll also be faster thanks to a new processor, and these updates should fix most of the issues with the current Golf’s touchscreen.
The polarising touch sliders for the climate control and radio volume remain, but they’re now illuminated so you can more easily use them at night. Similarly, the steering wheel touch panels have been replaced by proper buttons.
You may not need to use the touchscreen much at all, as the Golf also features a new ‘IDA’ voice assistant. The voice assistant can control the air conditioning, phone, media and sat nav functions, but also give you up-to-date information on weather and general knowledge.
IDA even includes ChatGPT functionality – a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence to scrape the internet for answers to your questions. VW says the voice assistant recognises natural language, although hasn’t given any specific examples.
Extra parking assistance features, too, with the Park Assist Plus function being able to size up a space and shimmy into it without any physical input from the driver. If that’s not enough, the Park Assist Pro system can enter or exit a parking space with the driver standing outside the car.
Most of the engine range will stay the same, with petrol, mild-hybrid petrol and diesel engines available. The Golf GTI hot hatch is set to receive a power boost and will launch later in 2024.
A new plug-in hybrid also joins the range. Bridging the gap between petrol Golfs and the fully electric Volkswagen ID.3. The new option boasts a 62-mile fully electric range – more than enough for the majority of UK commutes. It also includes DC fast-charging, which is still quite rare for hybrid cars.
The styling updates are mild. There are reshaped headlights and a new light signature for the brakelights, although VW’s IQ.Light LED Matrix headlights will now be available on top-spec cars.
When will I be able to buy a new Volkswagen Golf from Motorpoint?
You might start seeing facelifted VW Golfs at your local Motorpoint store later this year. If you can’t wait that long and can do without the new features we’ve just mentioned, we have plenty of fantastic used Volkswagen Golfs for sale that can be driven away on the same day or delivered to your home.
