What Volkswagen model replaced the Beetle after Wolfsburg production ended?

The Volkswagen Golf Mk1 replaced the Beetle after Beetle production ended at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant.

The final Wolfsburg-built Beetle left the line on 1 July 1974, after 11,916,519 examples had been produced there. Volkswagen shifted the factory toward newer front-engine, front-wheel-drive cars, beginning with the Golf, which was designed for changing European preferences and tighter competition from modern compact cars.

The Golf was a major technical break from the Beetle. It used water cooling, front-wheel drive and a practical hatchback body, while the Beetle retained its air-cooled rear engine and rear-wheel-drive layout. Giorgetto Giugiaro’s angular design also contrasted sharply with the Beetle’s rounded silhouette.

A common mix-up is treating the Golf as the Beetle’s only worldwide successor. Volkswagen also listed the Passat, Polo, Brazilian Gol and later New Beetle among successor models for different markets or roles. The Golf, however, is the canonical answer for the model that replaced the Beetle at Wolfsburg.