Golf

Unique weekend of motorsport for Volkswagen at the Nürburgring: the world premiere of the new Golf GTI EDITION 50 in front of cheering fans was followed by a strong showing at the 24h race. The Golf GTI Clubsport 24h driven by Benny Leuchter (Germany), Johan Kristoffersson (Sweden), Heiko Hammel (Germany) and Nico Otto (Germany) repeated last year’s success in the AT3 class for vehicles with alternative fuels, taking position 24 overall out of 135 participating vehicles. The 397 PS (291 kW) Golf GTI for the racetrack is powered by an innovative fuel consisting of 60 percent renewable raw materials. 280,000 spectators set a new attendance record for the classic endurance race, which is held in Germany’s Eifel region.

It’s the highlight before the highlight: Volkswagen is presenting the new Golf GTI EDITION 50 at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. In 2026, the Golf GTI will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and the brand is marking this special event with this outstanding special model. With an output of 239 kW (325 PS), the Golf GTI EDITION 50 is going down in history as the most powerful production Golf GTI to date. Production of the exclusive special model is scheduled to start in Wolfsburg at the end of 2025 so the Golf GTI EDITION 50 can be delivered to customers promptly for the start of its anniversary year from the first quarter of 2026.

Not yet on the market and already a record holder: on 20 June 2025, Volkswagen will present the world premiere of the new Golf GTI EDITION 50 at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. The most powerful production GTI to date is the exclusive anniversary model for the 50th anniversary of the compact sports car icon. The birthday celebration will take place in 2026 – in parallel with the market entry of the new model. But the Golf GTI EDITION 50 has already written itself into the history books of the Nürburgring and the Volkswagen brand: racing driver Benny Leuchter (D) completed a lap of the Nordschleife with a near-production test vehicle of the Golf GTI EDITION 50 in just 07:46:13 minutes. A new record – never before has a Volkswagen with road approval been faster on the Nürburgring.

Status quo of the Golf class. Volkswagen R presents the most powerful Golf models of our time: the new Golf R and the new Golf R Variant with 245 kW (333 PS). The new maximum output corresponds to an increase of 10 kW compared with the direct predecessors. As standard. This power has so far only been available in exclusive special models. The Golf R Variant has never before been available with this amount of power. The times for the classic sprint from 0 to 100 km/h have thus now been shortened to 4.6 and 4.8 seconds (Variant) respectively. In the latest generation too, the top speed can be increased by 20 km/h to 270 km/h by adding the Performance package. This makes the Golf R models the world’s fastest Volkswagens together with the Arteon R Shooting Brake.

GTI – the next chapter. It has the world’s largest fan base of all compact sports cars and is regarded as the original in its class: the Golf GTI is the ultimate icon, with well over 2.3 million units sold. A new evolutionary stage of this vehicle is now being launched. The output of the Golf GTI has increased from 180 kW (245 PS) to 195 kW (265 PS). Pre-sales will get underway in Europe on 14 May. The next GTI highlight will follow just a few days later with the world premiere of the new Golf GTI Clubsport at the Nürburgring – as part of the legendary 24-hour race. This represents the start of a true GTI weekend: on 1 June, Volkswagen will unveil the 221 kW (300 PS) Golf GTI Clubsport in front of thousands of visitors, who will then be able to take a closer look at the top-of-the-range GTI model on the ‘Nürburgring Boulevard’. The world premiere is taking place to coincide with the celebration of the Golf’s 50th birthday (launched in 1974). To help mark the occasion, three classic Golf vehicles will be taking part in the ADAC 24h Classic (3-hour race) on 2 June just before the main race. And that’s not all. A truly unique Golf will then take part in the 24-hour race: the Golf GTI Clubsport 24h, which boasts an output of 256 kW (348 PS). This race car was originally designed by Volkswagen Motorsport and has now been taken to the next level. As a tribute to half a century of Golf, the race organisers have given it the start number 50. Volkswagen says thank you!

Volkswagen is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Golf. Series production of the bestseller started in Wolfsburg in March 1974. More than 37 million units have followed that first Golf to date. Purely in mathematical terms, this means that over 2,000 people around the world have opted to buy a new Golf every single day over the last 50 years. This makes the compact icon the most successful European car and the best-selling Volkswagen model of all time. Volkswagen is now presenting the latest stage in the Golf’s evolution with a world premiere, featuring a new infotainment system that has been developed from scratch and a next-generation plug-in hybrid drive. The best Golf of the last 50 years will arrive in dealerships this spring.