Volkswagen unveils the all-new 2020 Golf hatchback

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  Not many nameplates make it to their eighth generation, but the Volkswagen Golf has just joined the club. [credit: Volkswagen ]

On Thursday afternoon, Volkswagen finally took the wraps off its new Golf hatchback. Many of us thought we would have seen the eighth-generation Golf at this year’s Frankfurt auto show, which took place in September. But VW had other ideas for its home expo, banishing the Golf (and anything else fossil-powered) in favor of its new electric future; multi-billion Euro fines will follow if it fails to get under a fleet average of 95g CO₂/km next year. But even the most optimistic projections recognize that internal combustion engines will be a thing for at least the next decade, so this remains an important vehicle for the automaker.

Like its predecessor, the Mk8 Golf uses VW’s MQB (Modularer Querbaukasten, or Modular Transverse Toolkit) architecture. Styling-wise, Golfs have always been a mixed bag; my heart belongs to the big-bumper Mk2 for a few reasons, and the Mk 7 has never really done it for me. Obviously, this sort of thing is highly subjective, but at first look, the new Golf’s styling appears to be headed back in the right direction, particularly when painted a bright color. Aerodynamically, it’s quite slippery, with a drag coefficient of just 0.275 and a frontal area of 23.8 square feet (2.21m²).

VW offers a range of gasoline and diesel engines, as well as 48V mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid EV variants, the last of these using a 1.4L gasoline four-cylinder and a 13kWh battery. Or at least there will be in some markets; Americans prefer sedans over hatchbacks, and VW can’t make money selling cheap Golfs here. We are confirmed to get both the Golf GTI and Golf R variants, but VW isn’t ready to share details on either right now.