No Golf plug-in for 2025, says Volkswagen

WITH its 8.5-generation Golf 110TSI and Golf GTI now in showrooms, and the 8.5 Golf R flagship just weeks away, Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) says its facelifted Golf line-up is now complete for MY25.

But the German manufacturer has ruled out a plug-in hybrid version, as well as a fresh powertrain replacement for the ageing 1.4-litre turbo engine in mainstream Golf variants.

Speaking to Go Auto at the national media launch for the 2025 Golf, VGA confirmed that the comprehensively upgraded plug-in hybrid versions of the new Golf 8.5 were under evaluation for Australia, though didn’t provide a timeline for a potential introduction.

“We evaluate everything – we really try not to close any door and try to understand whatever can be for the market,” said Piergiorgio Minto, VGA’s director passenger vehicles. “Whatever makes sense and whatever also makes a business case for us, I mean we’re going to do it.

“After the Golf, GTI and R, if it makes sense to have a product, a powertrain that makes more sense for the NVES (such as the Golf eHybrid or Golf GTE), we’re going to evaluate that, and if there was a business (case), we need to bring it,” he said.

The plug-in hybrid Golf variants in question both received big efficiency boosts for generation 8.5, with the luxury-focused 150kW Golf eHybrid offering up to 143km of electric-only WLTP range, and the sports-focused 200kW Golf GTE offering 131km.

Both variants combine a new 1.5-litre TSI ‘evo2’ petrol engine with a variable-vane turbocharger and a significantly larger 19.7kWh battery. DC charging capacity has increased to 50kW while AC charging is now 11kW (up from 3.6kW).

As for which plug-in hybrid variant would be the best fit for the Australian market, VGA’s national product manager for passenger vehicles, Arjun Nidigallu, said: “On the surface, (the GTE) seems like a smarter decision but then you’ve got to put the business case forward, and then where the positioning of the car is, who’s actually buying the car, which pockets are we targeting – all of that.”

“These evaluations continue to happen. And as Mr Minto said, we’re not saying it’s not going to happen or it’ll never happen. Certainly we’re not saying it’ll never happen. But we’re saying right now, this is the (Golf) line-up for 2025.”

When questioned about how long the ‘second-world’ 1.4-litre turbo-petrol with its eight-speed automatic transmission had left in the regular 110TSI Golf, VGA said it expected that drivetrain to remain on sale for some time, given its suitability for combining standard equipment with a value-for-money price.

“There is a cost component to it,” said Mr Nidigallu, stating that if VGA incorporated the 48-volt mild-hybrid 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox offered in Europe (and the Audi A3 in Australia) that the cost difference in the base Golf would be significant enough to move it into the next price band.

“We measure price bands in thousand-dollar (increments), so (it would) probably (be) at least in the next price band,” he said.

VGA also stated that it doesn’t need the 15 per cent fuel-consumption improvement of the more expensive mild-hybrid 1.5 to meet NVES requirements.

“For us, the strategy isn’t to make tinkerings on products that are already in place and already have an identity. It’s more to kind of add (electric) ID ranges on top and to do it that way,” said Mr Nidigallu.

“So we’re not thinking about ‘how can we change powertrains here and there to get an NVES result?’ That’s not the kind of thinking and not the strategy that we have. It’s more ‘what’s the right powertrain for this price point, for this customer, for this car?’”

“You’ve got to take into consideration, firstly, what kind of volume do we want to sell (with the Golf 8.5 and) who’s actually buying the car? What are the reasons they’re buying the car for: are they trying to be super-efficient, or are they trying to have a dynamic drive? And most importantly, what are they willing to pay for this segment car in this size for what we’re offering?

“When you look at all of those components, it made sense to stick with the tried-and-tested 1.4 (in the Golf 8.5), and that way we can include things in the car that customers want more,” he said.

“If the data four years ago, when we went through this (drivetrain selection) process, told us that customers actually would prefer a different drivetrain, but they wouldn’t care about all these other things (such as extra standard equipment), then the decision could have been different … but with the spec that we’ve got, I think we have the right product for the volume we want to sell and the kind of customer we want to attract.

“If half the cars (that Volkswagen Australia) sold were Golfs, like we used to a long time ago, when the small segment was dominating the market, it’s a different proposition and there’s space there for multiple fuel types, multiple powertrains – space to play with. And from a price perspective, there’s width and breadth.

“But when you have a much smaller market – yes, it’s gone up a little bit in 2024 but it’s kind of stabilising around 60,000 hatches a year in Australia. When you’re playing in that space, everything gets focused to the priorities. And the priority for us for the Golf is driveability, inclusions and just keeping the practicality and all of that alive. So that’s where we go to,” he said.