Although the VW Golf is available in the U.S. only in performance-oriented variants—as in the Golf GTI and the Golf R—in other parts of the world it is also a car that is, well, a car.

Last week at VW’s main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany, in Hall 12 of the complex, VW held a line-off ceremony for the refreshed 8^th-generaiton Golf.

A few interesting numbers:

• Since 1974 there have been more than 37 million Golfs produced. Approximately half of that number were built in Wolfsburg. Plant manager Rainer Fessel: “Wolfsburg is the Golf—and the Golf is Wolfsburg.”
• The Golf is the most-built vehicle at Wolfsburg. The Beetle is the second-most produced. Between 1945 and 1945 some 12 million Beetles were built at the plant.
• The Golf is available with five propulsion options: a conventional ICE engine, a mild hybrid, two plug-in hybrids, and a diesel.
• There have been a total 48 million vehicle built in Wolfsburg.