October 2023 was the best sales month of the year so far for the Volkswagen Golf 8 range, which comprises the GTI and R hot hatches. Here’s how many were registered…

The local Volkswagen Golf 8 range – these days comprising only the GTI and R hot hatches – enjoyed its strongest month of the year so far in October 2023, with 149 units registered around South Africa. That takes the year-to-date total to 746 units.

While this number isn’t nearly as lofty as the nameplate’s efforts in years gone by (almost 15000 examples of the Golf 7 GTI were registered in Mzansi, after all), October’s result was easily the highest tally of the year so far. The next best was July (125 units), followed by June (116 units), with the nameplate having to settle for double figures in all other months. The lowest point came in March, when just 16 units were registered.

Out of the Golf 8’s October 2023 total, 116 units were sold through the dealer channel, with government purchasing 30 examples and the remaining 3 listed as “single” sales (defined as vehicles registered by manufacturers for their own use). Naamsa doesn’t list a breakdown by variant, so the sales split between the GTI and R is not clear.

Of course, there was another reason for the Golf 8’s relatively slow start in South Africa. Thanks to the semi-conductor shortage, production of MQB-based models stuttered even as factories came back online during the global pandemic, meaning VW Group SA struggled to secure stock of the Golf 8 GTI and effectively had to push back its launch.

Indeed, though the Golf 8 GTI debuted globally as long ago as February 2020, it arrived in South Africa only in September 2021. TheJacara Editionof the GTI then touched down in Mzansi in October 2022. It was a similar case with the Golf 8 R, which finally reached the local market only at the end of April 2023.

As a reminder, the local Golf 8 line-up comprises both the 180 kW front-wheel-drive Golf GTI (which is currently priced from R765100 in Jacara Edition form and R781800 in “standard” guise) and the 235 kW all-paw Golf R (listed from R931100). Each employs a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard.

A facelifted version of the Golf 8 GTI is expected to be revealed early in 2024, with the hot hatch’s mid-cycle update set to take the form of a “major overhaul” comprising extra power, an upgraded chassis and a revised cabin, according to the latest reports out of Europe.

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