VW Golf 8 Variant (2020): room for passengers and cargo

The new Golf station wagon will hit the market as early as 2020. Like the hatchback, it builds on the platform of its predecessor and again has a significantly larger trunk. Recently we managed to catch the first individual in the mask.

Together with the Golf 8, only the sixth generation of the Golf Variant will appear - the Golf I and Golf II did not have a station wagon version. Recently, this version of the model accounts for approximately 20 percent of the total sales of the series - that is, about 200,000 units per year.

Of the brands of the VW concern, Seat and Skoda (Leon ST and Octavia Combi) offer a compact car with an elongated rear end (in the case of the Golf, almost exactly 30 centimeters) and a large cargo volume. However, the latter, even in the version with a short trunk, has a longer wheelbase than the Golf, and the Leon is built on the same platform as the original from Wolfsburg.

The dimensions are more or less the same as the previous model.

Although the Golf 8 uses the same platform as the Golf VII, it has a longer wheelbase. Instead of just under 2.63 m, it will probably be around 2.69 m (6 centimeters more). Thus, it will correspond to the corresponding size in the set of modules for transverse engine (MQB) designs that share the group's sister models - Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia. The length will probably increase to the same extent. Thus, the Golf 8 Variant will reach 4.63 meters. This could not but affect the volume of the trunk. The current model can load from 605 to 1620 liters, with its successor there may be changes towards the Octavia Combi (640, respectively 1700 liters).

And since the Variant more or less matches the C-pillar hatchback, it will be redesigned up front like an eighth over the seventh generation Golf. That is, with a new interior and a new infotainment system, optionally with additional assistance systems and redesigned motors supported by a micro-hybrid system. So, isn't this generational change just a facelift? That the most significant update has recently taken place under the hood is illustrated - apart from the new engines with optimized emissions and CO2 - above all by one number: according to VW, the processing power of assistance systems for semi-autonomous driving and infotainment systems. features in the Golf 8 has increased tenfold compared to the previous model. And this, of course,

Familiar powerband

And in the next Variant, VW will not offer the weakest engine with less than 100 hp. thus the power range will still be between 115 and over 300 hp. (The general consensus is that the top model will be the dual-drive 2.0-liter turbo R version.) The Alltrack version will likely continue to be offered. The Golf 8 Variant will be available in dealers in the second half of 2020 – already at the presentation of the new ID.3 to company employees at the end of 2019, the head of the works council, Bernd Osterlo, said: “Following the conversion of the Zwickau plant to electric vehicles next year, the entire will be additionally transferred to the main plant in Wolfsburg.”

Also in the field of good prospects are reports that with the change of generations, despite the increased size, prices will not change much. Thus, the price will again start at about 22,500 euros - up to now the difference with the regular Golf was 1,100 euros. However, it is possible that VW will ask for something more for a larger car. At least, the start of mass production largely repeats the history of its predecessor - it appeared on the market in the summer of 2013, while the hatchback has been on sale since the end of 2012.

Conclusion

Considering the fact that station wagons do not play a role in many markets and, for example, they are almost not offered in the USA anymore, 20 percent in the lineup is a very serious amount. That is why the compact Golf 8 will receive a version with a large and flexible boot volume and a middle-class format. So the Variant will also benefit from all the hatchback innovations - and they deserve attention. For the time being, VW will continue to produce the other body style of the Golf, the Sportsvan (previously Golf Plus), unchanged. However, its current version only debuted in 2014. Its share of 15 percent of Golf production suggests that the new Sportsvan will arrive in time for 2021.