On September 22 last year, Volkswagen received a report from the Wolfsburg assembly plant in Germany over a deformed strut mount. By month's end, Volkswagen received confirmation from the supplier - Boge Elastmetall Slovakia – that deformed parts had been shipped to the plant.
Volkswagen technical development boss Kai Grünitz confirmed to Autocar: “With the next generation of the Golf, there will not be one with a manual gearshift.” He added that the decision was taken for reasons of emissions compliance, but Autocar understands the move has not yet been officially signed off, pending any changes...
Ahead of next year's launch, the Volkswagen Golf 8.5 has been accurately rendered based on spy shots of a prototype that was caught with minimal camouflage.