Volkswagen has comprehensively rebooted the eighth-generation Golf in a bid to maintain its enchantment to the top of the last decade, when it will likely be changed by the electric Mk9.

As it turns 50, the German agency’s all-time best-seller receives a wide-reaching suite of know-how upgrades, usability enhancements, materials enhancements and a brand new look inside and outside.

The powertrain line-up has been revamped, too, with the addition of recent long-range plug-in hybrids, revised petrol and diesel choices – and extra energy for the GTI hot hatch, which is able to head the line-up till the launch of the revised four-wheel-drive Golf R later this yr.

Due within the UK in April, the 2024 Golf seeks to reinstate the mannequin as Europe’s primary by gross sales quantity after provide chain bottlenecks and a drop in reputation induced it to slide behind the likes of the Peugeot 208, the Dacia Sandero, the Volkswagen T-Roc and the Renault Clio within the gross sales charts.

Styling parts that distinguish the brand new Golf embrace an illuminated Volkswagen badge on the entrance – a characteristic made attainable by a current change in Europe’s promoting legal guidelines – and a reprofiled entrance bumper with redesigned air ducts (embellished by a honeycomb insert on the GTI).

Another apparent change are the new-look, angular LED headlights, which will be optionally specified with VW’s IQ Light HD matrix know-how.

There are new sills beneath the doorways too, in addition to a extra distinguished spoiler above the tailgate on the GTI, a restyled rear bumper and new-look LED tail-lights.

The 11 paint colors provided up till now have been prolonged to incorporate 4 new metallic colors, and a black roof is being made obtainable for the primary time as an possibility on the GTI, GTE and R-Line variants of the Golf.