{"id":227475,"date":"2025-10-20T18:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/227475\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T18:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T18:30:08","slug":"vw-golf-is-motortrends-2026-car-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/227475\/","title":{"rendered":"VW Golf Is MotorTrend\u2019s 2026 Car of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Congrats to the Volkswagen Golf,\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motortrend.com\/news\/volkswagen-golf-gti-r-2026-car-of-the-year\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">MotorTrend\u2019s 2026 Car of the Year!\u00a0<\/a> The GTI and R performance variants received the honor &#8211; besting a field of 14 contenders.\u00a0 It&#8217;s the Golf&#8217;s third time in its eight-generation history to win the prestigious golden calipers.<\/p>\n<p>Car of the Year contenders are judged in six key criteria,\u00a0 advancement in design, engineering excellence, performance of intended function, value, safety, and efficiency. Eligible vehicles were either all-new or significantly updated. Volkswagen says\u00a0MotorTrend praised the Golf models for their build quality, driving dynamics, modern design, advanced technology, and value.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAuthentic and spirited, the Golf continues to inspire the same enthusiasm it has since its debut,\u201d the editors noted. \u201cA recent update refined this eighth generation, sharpening its capabilities while preserving the engaging character that makes it a joy to drive. The GTI and R pursue different goals, yet each fulfills its mission with precision and confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor 50 years, the Golf lineup has been the enthusiast heartbeat of Volkswagen in America\u2014a family of vehicles that showed that practicality and driving excitement could be mutually compatible,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/media.vw.com\/releases\/1885\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">said Kjell Gruner<\/a>, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. \u201cThis recognition from MotorTrend celebrates not just the Golf\u2019s success, but also the community of drivers who have defined the performance Golf as\u00a0the\u00a0hot hatch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Golf was extensively updated for the 2025 model year with new looks, enhanced tech and a power bump for the R.\u00a0 For 2026, Golf GTI models continue to be available in S, SE, and Autobahn trims, with pricing starting from $34,590 MSRP for S trims. The 2026 Golf R is available as the standard model only with the available Euro Style Package, with pricing starting at $49,455 MSRP.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read MotorTrend\u2019s full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motortrend.com\/news\/volkswagen-golf-gti-r-2026-car-of-the-year\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Car of the Year story here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carpro.com\/hs\/cta\/wi\/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKQUAHcVWLvAJ6H4n6iW4aZHUjnYFoMtce7HI7b2iI7W2rsJkXOu7DWNXTR8Ll2SnAxgiby78ra4FwunhdnCNdkS2LG%2F58H8psr5V6i4DuCawjivM2aDKNv4aYZTfIhRwSoZGyChoW7DxwHQYyKoLJJfe1KhlCUzpaAGwXHabl%2BOZzyRC%2BFie0bpWlobv7rHLX1TC9hpTmF&amp;webInteractiveContentId=125646121292&amp;portalId=2684054\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"I'm in!\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/interactive-125646121292.png\" style=\"height: 100%; width: 100%; object-fit: fill; margin: 0 auto; display: block; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\" align=\"center\"\/> <\/a> <\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Photo Credit:\u00a0 Volkswagen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Congrats to the Volkswagen Golf,\u00a0 MotorTrend\u2019s 2026 Car of the Year!\u00a0 The GTI and R performance variants received&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227476,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-227475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-golf","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227475\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}