The benchmark

Executives expect the eighth-generation Golf, which will start arriving in showrooms across Europe during the coming weeks, will once again set the benchmark in its class in terms of CO2 emissions, comfort, craftsmanship and connectivity.

Three new 48-volt mild hybrids that can turn off the engine when coasting are on offer while the GTE plug-in hybrid variant returns, offering two different performance levels. The diesel version reduces harmful nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80 percent and even a TGI derivative that runs on compressed natural gas is planned. The GTD diesel, Golf R and GTI performance cars arrive this year as well.

What sets the new Golf apart is that it is VW's most technologically advanced model to date. The car is equipped with a fully digital cockpit, an embedded cellular modem for over-the-air updates, and the ability to communicate with other cars and surrounding infrastructure at distances up to 800 meters. It even comes with natural voice recognition that includes a Smart Home integration via Amazon Alexa.

VW's mission for the Golf is simple: form the vanguard of a new fleet of digitally enabled vehicles that eventually draw in 5 million paying users every year to its own virtual in-car shopping mall. This proprietary ecosystem called Volkswagen We aims to sell new goods and services, for example, the option to enable automatic cruise control on a vacation drive to Italy. Not only do such functions-on-demand provide fresh revenue streams, they can tether the customer more closely to the brand, increase the likelihood of a repeat purchase and even boost resale value because the car is upgradeable. How much revenue this could add is still unclear, according to VW.

To ensure its cars are fit for this smartphone-inspired business model, the brand has committed to investing roughly 3.5 billion euros in digitalization by 2025 and overhauled its contract with European dealers. No model is more ideally suited to accomplish this important task, since a new Golf is sold every 45 seconds on average.

"This makes it one of the most digitally relevant vehicles on the road," said Schmidt, who is also the publisher of a monthly report on Europe's EV market. "That the Golf is the first model to receive this can almost be seen as a long-term thank you gift for its many years of service."

In the process, however, a host of programming glitches delayed the car's European launch. The complexity of the Golf's infotainment system alone is comparable to that of an entire car sold in 2010. This helped catalyze VW's decision to develop its own software stack in the future via a new subsidiary that opened its doors last month.

"There are a hundred million lines of code in the Golf, roughly as many as you find in an Airbus 320," VW brand COO Brandstaetter told reporters during the car's debut last year.