Volkswagen to bring 100 Golf owners to Yongin circuit for GTI's 50th anniversary

One hundred Volkswagen Golf vehicles will converge on a Yongin circuit as Volkswagen Korea marks the 50th anniversary of the high-performance Golf GTI hatchback with a track event for domestic Golf owners.

Volkswagen Korea announced Tuesday it is accepting applications for the 2026 Volkswagen Golf Treffen Korea, to be held Oct. 17 at Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Now in its fourth year, Golf Treffen Korea is an owner event where Golf customers share their vehicles and driving experiences. "Treffen" is the German word for "gathering."

The event traces its roots to the GTI Treffen, which began in 1982 at Lake Wörthersee in Austria and has since grown into a global gathering for Golf and GTI owners. Volkswagen Korea brought the owner culture to South Korea in 2023 and has held the event annually since.

The inaugural edition drew 70 Golf vehicles and about 200 participants. In 2024, 100 vehicles and roughly 280 owners and family members gathered to mark the Golf's 50th anniversary, and last year 100 vehicles and about 300 people attended.

This year's event centers on the GTI's 50th anniversary. Volkswagen has maintained the high-performance hatchback lineage since unveiling the first-generation Golf GTI in 1976.

Everland Speedway was chosen as the venue to let participants experience the GTI's driving performance firsthand. Attendees can take a Golf GTI through a slalom course, navigating a series of cones on the track.

A "GTI Taxi" program will also run, offering ride-alongs with professional drivers for high-speed laps and cornering experiences. A separate program lets participants drive the track themselves, giving them a feel for vehicle dynamics that are difficult to replicate on public roads.

Beyond performance-focused activities, the event will include a "Best Golf Award" recognizing the most distinctive cars among the entries, as well as hands-on programs, mini-games and other family-oriented activities for children.

Volkswagen is also accelerating the electrification of its performance lineup in this GTI anniversary year. In May, it gave the ID. Polo GTI — the brand's first all-electric GTI — its world premiere. The model produces 226 horsepower and offers a WLTP-rated range of 424 kilometers, carrying the character of the combustion-engine GTI into an electric vehicle.

The Golf GTI Edition 50, developed to commemorate the GTI's 50th anniversary, also set a new front-wheel-drive production car lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany. Volkswagen has continued to build on the GTI anniversary throughout this year with vehicle events and a university student AI advertising competition, among other programs.

A total of 100 Golf vehicles will be invited to this year's event. Applications are open through Sept. 18 via Volkswagen Korea's official Naver blog and Instagram, with selected participants to be notified individually on Sept. 22.

"It is especially meaningful to be hosting the fourth Golf Treffen Korea with domestic Golf owners in such a significant year — the 50th anniversary of the GTI," said Shin Dong-hyup, Volkswagen Korea's executive director of marketing communications. "We hope this becomes a place where we can share the GTI's heritage and the passion owners have for their Golf, and create truly special memories together."