The Volkswagen Golf gets a facelift for its 50th birthday

The Volkswagen Golf is turning 50 this year, and to celebrate, the German carmaker has facelifted its beloved hatchback which is set to be revealed in full later this month.

Images of a camouflaged Mk8.5 GTI were released by VW ahead of the CES technology show in Las Vegas this week, showing off a smattering of new design cues inside and out.

Starting at the front, the lower portion of the bumper has been redesigned, with the lower grille being chopped up by newly added tusks on the outer ends.

At the rear, it looks as if the GTI has inherited both the wing and Akrapovic twin-exit exhaust from the Clubsport, while a new set of taillights and a more aggressive rear splitter have also been added.

A welcome change to the new model is the outsting of Volkswagen’s loathed haptic feedback buttons on the steering wheel, which have now been replaced with much easier to use physical alternatives.

To make life even easier for vehicle occupants, the facelifted Golf will be host to VW’s newly updated IDA voice assistant with the added benefit of ChatGPT artificial intelligence integration.

While there’s no word on powertrains, we understand that the updated GTI retains the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder under the bonnet. However, several reports suggest that the model will lose one of its much loved staples – the manual gearbox.

With that being said, keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks as we’re told that’s when the covers are set to come off the facelifted Volkswagen Golf.