It looks like tough Euro 7 emissions have forced Volkswagen to make the Golf all automatic
The Volkswagen Golf is a popular car among enthusiasts and is widely considered one of the best in the hot hatch category and for many year now, especially in Europe, the GTI variant of the car was sold exclusively with a manual transmission but apparently as Euro 7 emissions regulations get tighter, Volkswagen is rumoured to remove the manual option by 2024.
For the first 29 years of its life the Volkswagen Golf GTI was only available with a manual transmission but by the time the hot hatch turns 49, next year, that might be gone as Volkswagen is planning to drop the manual transmission option from every car in the Golf lineup, including the GTI, during 2024 when the current Mk8 car gets a mid-life refresh.
Moreover, this was confirmed by Volkswagen technical development boss Kai Grünitz, who told Autocar that the manual would be dropped to help the automaker meet tough new Euro 7 emissions legislation.
“With the next generation of the Golf, there will not be one with a manual gearshift.” He said. Autocar magazine, however, reports that Volkswagen could change its mind if changes are made to the draft Euro 7 rules before the legislation is cemented into law. We have already seen a reverse of the ban on Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars, so hopefully this is next.
Though many Volkswagen Golf buyers love the brand’s quick-shifting dual-clutch transmission, removing the manual option could deter more old school enthusiasts while making the car more expensive. This is because adding an automatic transmission increases the cost by USD800, the premium is USD1,900 on a GTI in the UK, where the Golf R is already DSG-only.
On top of that, the report does not mention if the North American versions of the Volkswagen Golf, which do not need to comply with Euro emissions regulations, would also lose their manual options, but that seems likely as it would be easier and cheaper for the brand.
The Volkswagen Golf GTI and R are the only Golfs offered in the U.S., and sold just 8,423 units between them in 2022. A good chunk of those buyers must have picked the automatic transmission and with Volkswagen already advocating for the end of ICE engines as well, this would make sense, even if many enthusiasts don’t like it.
While some may argue that the difference in CO2 emissions between a manual and dual-clutch Volkswagen Golf can be as little as 2 g/km, that can still add up to have a big effect on fleet average emissions when one considers the hundreds of thousands of Golfs on the road today.
We got all this from Carscoops and their full article is linked here. Thank you Carscoops for the information and images.
