Volkswagen found itself in a tough spot. On one hand, it wasn’t prepared to unveil the updated Golf entirely, but on the other, it aimed to showcase the model’s enhanced infotainment system. This tension seemingly resulted in an unintentional early leak of the hatchback’s design, and surprisingly, it came directly from VW itself.
Although the refreshed Golf is on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, it is still wearing funky purple camouflage. However, inside the car, an undisguised representation of it can be seen in the infotainment’s “Vehicle Status” menu.
Showing the GTI variant of the Golf, the screen reveals that the refinements we’ve long expected to see will combine to make a handsome hatchback after all. As can be seen in a German video posted by The Car Crash Review YouTube channel, the changes include thinner headlights, a chunkier lower grille, and reshaped air intakes at the front.
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Credit: The Car Crash Review, YouTube
Interestingly, the grille on the vehicle in the infotainment system, and the one on the real car are different, which some have speculated may have to do with one of them being the Clubsport model. However, it is also possible that VW is throwing us a curveball here. s. While it’s conceivable that the company couldn’t alter the depiction of the car in its infotainment system, it’s worth noting that VW was at CES to showcase the system, so it must have been aware that people would be closely scrutinizing it.
Whatever’s going on, the car in the infotainment system also sports some attractive wheels, that are vaguely reminiscent of the popular 19-inch “Detroit” wheels found on the sixth-generation GTI. Overall, though the changes are relatively mild, they combine to make a good-looking car.
While the design updates will likely be welcome, it’s the changes to the infotainment system that will really make a difference for buyers. As we’ve covered, the Golf will get an improved virtual assistant powered by ChatGPT that allows drivers to ask for stuff more naturally. The car will also get real buttons on the steering wheel instead of the touch capacitive ones that critics, customers, and everyone else complained about when the eighth-generation Golf launched. The heater controls will also now light up, so that they can be operated at night.
No Manual Gearbox For New Golf GTI?
Although there’s a lot of good news from this update, there will be one piece of bad news for enthusiasts. Autocar reports that VW has ditched the manual transmission for the model. Kai Grunitz, the head of technical development, said that it “didn’t make sense” to continue on with the manual because of the lack of clarity on Euro 7 emissions when the car was being planned. To be on the safe side, the company decided to focus only on the DSG gearbox. That’s unlikely to anger too many people, since 95 percent of buyers chose the two-pedal option, per Grunitz.
We’ll know more details, including whether North America will also forgo the manual gearbox, when VW officially unveils the new Golf before the end of January.
