The Volkswagen I.D. EV Will Launch This Year as the Next-Gen Golf Gets Shelved Until 2020

The Volkswagen Golf is a true automotive phenomenon so when there's a new one on the way; you can bet everyone is eagerly waiting for it. We've already seen mules out on the open road, but the now-2021 Volkswagen Golf 8 won't be here until next year as Volkswagen prepares to unveil the first model from its I.D. family of EVs that is slated to become a hit.

The German giant from Wolfsburg has been dropping hints on the 2021 Golf for a while now, but we'll have to wait a little bit longer to see the refreshed version of the best-selling car in Europe. Why? Well, Volkswagen needs extra time to fix some last-minute things on the Golf, and this would push the release date well past what was originally planned, namely to have the car at the Frankfurt Auto Show. A launch event on the eve of the holiday season isn't what Volkswagen wants for the Golf, apparently.

The 2020 Volkswagen Golf Needs to Cook a Little Bit Longer

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf was introduced on the European market a staggering eight years ago, and it arrived on U.S. soil four years later.

We've been hearing up until a few days ago that Volkswagen will pull the wraps off the hatchback this year, but that won't happen. German magazine Bild reported that the automaker is busy curing some glitches that are marring the Golf's state-of-the-art digital system.

Automotive News Europe asked VW about it and, while the manufacturer did confirm there are some niggly little issues with the Golf 8, they aren't the reason for the delayed launch - or at least that's what VW wants us to believe. Instead, the move is one with 'Sales' written large on it as the marketing department reckoned that launching the Golf in late November or December would harm the Golf. The news comes merely days after Volkswagen had actually confirmed, during its Annual Media Conference that the Golf 8 will be here before year's end.

Juergen Stackmann, Volkswagen's Chief of Sales and Marketing, told Automotive News Europe that "it's better to come early next year with a full-throttle offensive. It doesn't have anything to do with production. It's a sales decision since you don't try to put cars under the Christmas tree when no one is paying attention." Stackmann also turned the potentially woeful situation into a positive one adding that, by postponing the Golf's launch, it will get "the exclusivity it deserves," as it won't have to fight for headlines during the Frankfurt Auto Show week in September.

"People want a Golf – it's iconic – but now there's a huge leap forward in the digitization inside it. It's still a Golf, but now digital. It's kept what people have loved and moved it to the next phase." This is also underlined by the Golf 8's underpinnings, an evolution of the 7's MQB platform (which should translate in a 100-pound weight drop for the new model). The styling is, similarly, nothing to write home about. We've seen the car undisguised already and, while it looks a bit sharper and a bit bigger, it's unmistakably a Golf.

To fill the gap left by the Golf 8, it's understood that VW will bring to the Frankfurt Auto Show the first model of the I.D. family - the 2020 I.D. Neo. Originally, the Neo was supposed to drop a few weeks later during a special launch event, but this won't happen anymore. The imminent arrival of the I.D. fleets means that we won't have an eighth-generation e-Golf because VW wants its customers to choose an I.D. model when they want an electric VW. Instead, the Golf will feature mild hybridization with both 12V and 48V mild-hybrid systems on the table right now. What seems to not be on the table are the Golf Estate and the three-door version of the popular hatchback, both on the verge of being ditched.

Another thing that will come with the new Golf (or maybe even sooner on the I.D. Neo) is the latest evolution of Volkswagen's badge. The legendary circular logo with the V on top of the W has been around ever since the company was founded in the '30s. Now, it seems like the logo will get a retro makeover with both the V and the W looking thinner. These are all minute details, but VW fanatics are sure to geek over them endlessly.

TopSpeed

The Volkswagen I.D. EV Will Launch This Year as the Next-Gen Golf Gets Shelved Until 2020

The 2020 Volkswagen Golf Needs to Cook a Little Bit Longer

Further reading