Volkswagen delays Golf 8 launch to 2020

Volkswagen has strenuously denied reports from a German newspaper that it has been forced to push back the launch of the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf over technical glitches related to the hatchback's advanced digital technology.

Originally, the Volkswagen Golf 8 was set to make its global debut this September at the Frankfurt motor show alongside the I.D. Neo hatch, but that decision has now been reversed to focus on the latter.

Speaking to

His remarks contrast with reports from German newspaper Bild that advanced features, like a fully digital cockpit and next-gen permanent connectivity, were the real reasons behind the delay.

As well as being the most connected car ever, Volkswagen has already promised the next MQB platform-based Golf will come equipped with extended autonomous driving aids expected to be alien to cars like the Mercedes A-Class, even though that car is in a class above.

It's rumoured that ambitious designers and engineers have ensured the flagship version of the Mazda3 rival would come with a complete absence of conventional switches, relaying on touchscreens instead that could incorporate both gesture control and haptic feedback.

Stackmann says that, instead of September, the Golf will lob "by the end of the year" but actual sales won't begin until early 2020 because of the sales slump that surrounds Christmas .

"We think it's better to come early next year with a full throttle offensive. It doesn't have anything to do with production. It's a sales decision since you don't try to put cars under the Christmas tree because no one is listening," he told Automotive News.