VW Golf 8.5 in 1.4 TSI trim ‘ready to roll’ in South Africa in 2025

It’s all systems go for the first non-performance VW Golf in almost four years’ local introduction next year.

Niels Wiechmann, brand head of Volkswagen passenger cars, confirmed on Monday that the 1.4 TSI VW Golf 8.5 is ready to roll in 2025. The VW Golf 8.5 GT and R derivates are on hold for moment.

VW Golf 8.5 GTI and R on hold

“The GTI and R will come, but later. First of all, we’d like to introduce the 1.4 Golf. Its really a great car that has just won an award in Germany last week, so we are really looking forward to that,” Wiechmann told the media in Fourways.

The VW Golf 8 arrived only in GTI guise in 2021, with the R derivative following later. Volkswagen indicated at the time that it is only concentrating on the hatchback’s performance variants due to the increased demand for the brand ever-growing SUV line-up which now includes the T-Cross, Taigo, T-Roc, Tiguan, Tiguan Allspace and Touareg.

But Wolfsburg has now backtracked on its stance over the “Plain Jane” in Mzansi. It says there are still buyers preferring a hatchback over an SUV and find themselves stuck between a Polo GTI and Golf GTI. And only among private buyers, but also in the commercial space like for instance rental companies.

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Brand heritage

VW banks on the Golf’s brand heritage to squeeze some life out of the 8.5, which is set to continue alongside the all-electric ninth generation.

The 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine that will serve on the 1.4 TSI VW Golf also features on new Tiguan and T-Roc and produces 110kW of power and 250Nm of torque.

“We can’t launch the VW Golf 8.5 GTI now, but hopefully later next year. The reason for that is the fuel quality in South Africa,” said Martina Biene, managing director of Volkswagen South Africa.

“The same goes for some of the hybrid models we’d love to launch. Unfortunately the fuel quality does not allow us to release these cars.”

VW is also gearing up to introduce the updated T-Cross next year, with the all-new Tayron SUV also in the pipeline.