50 Years of Golf: Volkswagen Celebrates the Millionth Model Sold Worldwide on Friday

On Friday, Volkswagen will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Golf. The German car company began producing the first models of the Golf in 1974, and since then, over 37 million units have been sold worldwide. An average of 2,000 people chooses a new Golf every day.

The production of the Golf began on March 29, 1974, as a replacement for the Beetle. Today, it is still manufactured in Wolfsburg, Volkswagen’s historic headquarters, as well as in other production sites in Germany and seven other countries. In honor of this milestone anniversary, a special exhibition will be opening in Wolfsburg to showcase the fifty years of the Golf’s existence.

Throughout its history, eight generations of the Golf have been introduced, with the latest being the Golf 8 presented in 2019. The new model is available as a plug-in hybrid with a fully electric range of 100 kilometers. It also features voice control and an automated conversation partner based on artificial intelligence.

In 2023, the Golf was once again named as the best-selling Volkswagen model in Germany with over 81 thousand cars sold according to Statista. Additionally, nearly a fifth of all cars registered in Germany last year were Golfs reported by Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA).