The Golf GTI for nerds – 2021 Motoring Newsmaker No 16

Two-thousand-and-twenty-one was an interesting year for the South African motoring landscape.

Some things changed, like an acceleration towards greener cars, while others stayed the same like Toyota topping the monthly sales charts.

In this series of 2021 Motoring Newsmakers, The Citizen looks back at the top 20 most popular online stories of the year. The series is dominated by South Africa’s most popular body style, bakkies, while the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 was by far the most viewed single model on our website. Other local favourites in the form of hot hatches, fuel efficient hatchbacks, big, mean SUVs, compact SUVs, Mercedes-AMGs and BMW M cars also drew their fair share of attention.

One of the car manufacturers that has been very active in future mobility is Volkswagen. Although VW might not have an electric car for sale yet in South Africa, the German carmaker has been very active behind the scenes. The e-Golf and ID .3 have been operating locally, with a fleet of ID .4s destined in the new year.

The fleet of e-Golfs has been doing the rounds since the start of 2020. Media and Volkswagen customers got to experience the all-electric hatchback that The Citizen’s Road Test Editor has described as the “Golf GTI for nerds”.

The Golf GTI has been a South African favourite for a long time and it will take some convincing for its hardcore fans that an all-electric model might replace it down the line. But with the instant torque available in an electric car, the e-Golf might go a long way into convincing Golf GTI owners that the future might not be all that bad.

To see what Mark though of the Volkswagen “Golf GTI for nerds”, click on the link below.

2021 MOTORING NEWSMAKER NO 16: The Golf GTI for nerds

To see the rest of our 2021 Motoring Newsmakers, click on the links below.

NO 17: Never be late in a Merc GLS 580

NO 18: Toyota HiAce 54 years young

NO 19: New Ford Ranger revealed

NO 20: Toyota Land Cruiser gets stuck the mud