All because of the Euro-7 emissions standard
Speaking to Automotive News Europe at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Volkswagen development chief Kai Grünitz explained why the company abandoned the manual transmission in the new Golf GTI.
This is the 2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI. Images of the new item «forgot» in the showroom infotainment system
The main reason is due to emissions regulations. Despite the fact that the legislation «Euro-7» has been relaxed since the original proposal, work on the car began several years ago when the «Euro 7» was much tougher.
«When we started development, there was no clear understanding of when the „Euro 7“ rules would be published. At some point you will have to start development. Otherwise, you will not meet the deadlines», — he said.
In addition, the DSG-equipped Golf was significantly more popular in the first half of the eighth-generation model's life cycle. Even in the GTI version, only 5% of customers worldwide received a six-speed transmission, with the remaining 95% opting for a dual-clutch automatic transmission. The fact that half of U.S. GTI buyers opted for a manual transmission last year was not enough reason to stick with the manual transmission.
A six-speed manual transmission is also available in Europe on base Golf versions, below the GTI and R Performance models. It remains to be seen whether this will remain the case for the new car, which will debut soon after its preview at CES 2024.