MORE than 35 million Volkswagen Golfs have been produced in the last 45 years.
According to VW, the car has enabled automotive progress for everyone for seven generations.
In Mzansi, the term Vrrr-pha was born because of the Golf 5 GTI, that had the direct shift gearbox (DSG).
A DSG is effectively two gearboxes in one, connected to the engine by two drive shafts. A mechatronics system operates both the gearboxes and clutches hydraulically (effectively, a combination of mechanics and electronics).
Now all this might be coming to an end.
Speaking to Germany’s Die Welt publication, VW COO Thomas Schafer said while the company was working on a revised Golf 8, the future of the nameplate was currently unknown.
“We will know more in 12 months,” he said.
While we can’t imagine life without the Volkswagen Golf, Schafer believed the hatchback’s future was determined by numbers.
According to CarBuzz, Schafer said: “We’ll would have to decide whether it is worthwhile to develop a new car that won’t last seven or eight years. It is extremely costly.
With Europe’s looming combustion ban in the mix, it would make little sense for Volkswagen to develop a new Golf. The Golf 8 is still one of the region’s best-selling cars.”
