The Next Volkswagen Golf Could Look Similar … Until You Get Inside
The next-generation Volkswagen Golf will likely sport evolutionary design changes — on the outside, that is. Sketches released by the German automaker reveal a slipstream evolution of the current, seventh-generation Golf. Quad light-piped headlights and a pencil-thin grille highlight the front, while the tail retains the nameplate’s vertical C-pillars.
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Many of the cues are unique versus anything else in VW’s U.S. lineup, but they’re hardly out of left field. Inside, however, much more has changed.
Two sketches of the eighth-gen interior suggest that VW wants to build on the Jetta’s screen-heavy dashboard with as many as three displays in the Golf. Virtual gauges are flanked by a screen to each side, with a likely shift to screen-based controls in place of physical buttons and knobs. An apparent push-button gear selector sits below the climate vents, while the controls for the climate appear to use touch-sensitive indicators above.
VW is no stranger to touch-sensitive controls. Such layouts have replaced traditional buttons in certain cars from Audi and Porsche, both brands under the Volkswagen Group. It’s a controversial approach, but if the Golf’s interior sketches are any indication, the automaker seems to be doubling down on it.
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Volkswagen touts leadership in the Golf’s “connectivity-oriented interior world, its assisted driving features and its online-based functions and services.” The redesigned hatchback will also have enhanced suspensions and a “new range of efficient engines.”
The automaker will reveal the new global Golf in full on Oct. 24, with international sales beginning in December. Still, the fate of the redesign for the U.S. market remains up in the air. Citing a statement from the automaker, CNet reported in May that the Golf GTI and Golf R would come to the U.S. but other versions were still under consideration. Volkswagen spokeswoman Jessica Anderson confirmed that this remains the current status.
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