New Volkswagen Golf teased with Mk9 icon ready to go electric

Volkswagen has revealed the first image of the next-generation Golf to its workforce in Wolfsburg, where the all-new, all-electric model will be built.

Thomas Schafer, Volkswagen’s CEO, was in attendance to present a shadowy side profile picture of the upcoming ninth-generation Golf family hatchback - which is expected to launch in 2028 with petrol and hybrid options in addition to the pure electric car. 

It’s not the first time VW has given its employees a world premiere - in 2023 the new Tiguan was revealed to the workforce and then in September last year the ID. Polo was revealed just days before its global unveiling at the Munich Motor Show. 

While the hatchback shape of the Golf will clearly continue on, the image shows some notable changes compared to the current car including a more upright front end, extended rear spoiler and highlighted wheel arches, presumed to be more flared than those of previous Golfs. There’s also a relatively long wheelbase, most likely to provide space for a battery pack. 

The simple black and white style of the teaser image is very similar to the one released of the ID.2 concept back in 2023. Though we shouldn't be too surprised as Volkswagen’s future models are expected to follow on from the rounded, inoffensive shape of the new ID. Cross, ID. Polo and the upcoming production version of ID. 1 concept. 

Volkswagen is likely to adopt a similar strategy to the likes of MINI, where it puts visually similar bodies – albeit with key structural differences – on top of its very different ICE (MQB) and EV (MEB+) platforms. Martin Sander, Volkswagen’s board member for sales, marketing and aftersales told Auto Express of a desire to converge the firm’s differing designs.

“I think it’s really important that we have a clear Volkswagen design language,” Sander told us. “From the next launches you will see lots more clarity on the way Volkswagen vehicles are designed. 

As for the name, well we’ve known for some time that the Golf will live on into the electric era with the same name, essentially replacing the similarly-sized ID.3. Though the company still hasn’t given up on its electric ‘ID’ branding. 

Sander said the company wanted to build on its ID electric car brand, rather than simply returning to household names for future models like Polo and Golf.

“ID is a really strong brand,” Sander told us. “There is an ID community; ID drivers meet up once a year at Lake Como. This shows that ID in itself is becoming a strong brand – we need to think very, very carefully about whether we want to ditch that.

“The future of individual mobility will be electric. So if we want to be market leaders in the future, we will have to have a strong name that reflects this ambition of us being number one,” he said.

But Sander hinted that as well as building on its ID brand, the firm wouldn’t ignore the fact that electric car demand was softening across Europe – suggesting that it’ll continue to develop its range of petrol and hybrid cars towards the end of the decade and beyond.

“As long as we see customers demanding vehicles with a combustion engine – we are one of the largest car companies in the world, we will offer that,” he told us. “Sooner or later there will be an end date, but right now it is too soon to say.”

We expect to see a Volkswagen ID. Golf launched alongside an all-but aesthetically identical ICE Golf before the end of the decade – possibly replacing the ID.3 and Mk8 Golf in one fell swoop. 

The underpinnings of the electric Golf haven’t been announced but given the long-awaited SSP architecture will probably be too expensive for a family hatchback to make profitable, we expect a stretched version of the MEB+ platform found in the new Cupra Raval, Skoda Epiq and Volkswagen ID. Polo. This could bring a number of technical certainties like being able to support front or all-wheel drive and cheaper LFP lithium iron phosphate battery chemistry.

Volkswagen already has a brand-new full-hybrid powertrain that aligns with the MQB evo platform used by the current Golf. Set for its first application in the second-generation T-Roc, there are two full-hybrid options with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor providing either 134bhp or 167bhp. 

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