Volkswagen marks 50th anniversary of the Golf

Volkswagen is marking the start of production of the very first Golf 50 years ago.

Series production of the hatchback first stated in Wolfsburg, Germany on 29 March 1974. Designed as a successor to the legendary Beetle, the car is said to have seen a total of 37 million examples produced since - a figure that Volkswagen states means over 2,000 people around the world have opted to buy a new Golf every day over the last 50 years.

To date, more than 20 million Golfs have been built in Wolfsburg, while 17 million Golfs have been built in German plants outside of Wolfsburg alongside facilities in locations ranging from Belgium, Brazil, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Slovakia and South Africa.

Volkswagen recently revealed the updated Mk8 Golf, which now gets a new generation infotainment system (complete with AI-based chatbot ChatGPT), alongside a redesigned exterior and new plug-in hybrid drivetrains.