Volkswagen introduces 396bhp hybrid Golf GTI concept

For Volkswagen, GTI has always been associated with a four-banger hot hatch, if you don’t count that time 15 years ago when the MkIV GTI dabbled with the big VR6 engine for a short while. That same generation also marked the occasion when the GTI moved to turbo power, a setup it’s relied on ever since. But now, a paradigm shift is at hand: VW’s three-letter hot hatch name is, for the first time ever, combined with hybrid technology.

You can’t buy one of these just yet, though. The advent of hybrid tech on a VW GTI has debuted at the famous Wörthersee Volkswagen meet in Austria, and the special car has been built to commemorate the 10 years of Wörthersee show builds commissioned by VW – hence the name Golf GTI First Decade. Traditionally, these show cars have been designed by young apprentices, in the spirit of tuner cars often being metal incarnations of teenage dreams. Read more