IN 1983 A GTI COST R10,635 - IN 2025 IT COSTS R857,100 - A MORE THAN 7,900% INCREASE IN 42 YEARS.
Volkswagen’s GTi used to be marketed and promoted as an affordable car with good power and handling, along with a decent amount of specs. Over the years, the GTi has improved significantly, with every model surpassing the one before. The iconic hatchback grew in physical size, and the powertrain improved exponentially, keeping the GTi as a favourite model for those seeking performance and fun. The only thing that hasn’t remained is affordability. When the Mk1 GTi was launched in SA way back in 1983, as best as we can find, it listed for R10,635. At that time, it seems like the average decent job paid around R12,000 per year. Of course, with the bad shit that was going on in SA at the time, income numbers are terribly skewed, and the vast majority of the population was exploited and living in poverty and could barely afford to live. That must be taken into account. With the numbers we do have, though, it looks like a good annual salary was almost equal to the Mk1 GTi’s list price. When the succeeding GTi models were released over the years, that list price grew quite steadily. Our digging into the list prices took some time, and the figures we have are the best we could find. The only GTi that could be higher than it should be is for the Mk4 GTi; the only data we could find was for a 2001 model, but the car actually hit showrooms in 1998, and so would have had a bit of a lower list price for that year. Here’s the breakdown of the different GTi list prices over the years:
1983 Mk1 GTi R10,635
1986 Mk2 GTi R24,790
1992 Mk3 GTi R63,230
2001 Mk4 GTi R183,680
2005 Mk5 GTi R240,000
2009 Mk6 GTi R317,300
2013 Mk7 GTi R368,300
2016 Mk7.5 GTi R545,800
2021 Mk8 GTi R669,300
2025 Mk8.5 GTi R857,100
Now, using the Mk1 list price as a baseline - R10,635 - this is how the price increase stacks up as a percentage increase:
1983 Mk1 GTi R10,635 → 0% (baseline)
1986 Mk2 GTi R24,790 → +133.1%
1992 Mk3 GTi R63,230 → +494.6%
2001 Mk4 GTi R183,680 → +1,627.1%
2005 Mk5 GTi R240,000 → +2,156.7%
2009 Mk6 GTi R317,300 → +2,884.0%
2013 Mk7 GTi R368,300 → +3,362.4%
2016 Mk7.5 GTi R545,800 → +5,034.8%
2021 Mk8 GTi R669,300 → +6,195.3%
2025 Mk8.5 GTi R857,100 → +7,961.6%
So, from the Mk1 GTi to the Mk8.5, the GTi price has gone up by almost 8,000%
To make it a little more palatable, here’s the breakdown of how GTi prices jumped between generations as a percentage. As said, the Mk4 would be a little lower if we could confirm the 1998 list price.
Mk1 GTi → Mk2 GTi: +133%
Mk2 GTi → Mk3 GTi: +155%
Mk3 GTi → Mk4 GTi: +190%
Mk4 GTi → Mk5 GTi: +31%
Mk5 GTi → Mk6 GTi: +32%
Mk6 GTi → Mk7 GTi: +16%
Mk7 GTi → Mk7.5 GTi: +48%
Mk7.5 GTi → Mk8 GTi: +23%
Mk8 GTi → Mk8.5 GTi: +28%
This means that on average, each new GTi costs about 73% more than the one before it. That’s a healthy jump, especially in a country where salaries haven’t really followed suit. The GTi started out as an affordable car for the masses, but it’s moved up a few levels and has become more of an aspirational car now, something you buy when you want to reward yourself for hard work, a car that shows you’re a professional and have ‘made it’ in life. Also, remember that these are the base prices and they don’t include any optional extras, which have also increased over the years. In the mid-2000s, optional extras would see no more than a few grand added to the list price, easily absorbed into the finance fees. If we take a look at the soon-to-be-released Mk8.5 model that currently lists on the VWSA website as R857,100, it’s sparse on the available tech and options. If you spend a bit of time on the online configurator and add in all the available options, that list price balloons to a whopping R990,900. If we chuck that figure into Autotrader’s Car Finance Calculator and add in a healthy R100,000 deposit with a default 10.5% interest rate, and the finance period over 4 years, the estimated monthly instalment is given as R22,787. You still need to add insurance to that, but monthly insurance instalments are hard to calculate as they would be different for every person based on their specific risk profile. You can still expect a grand or two, though. If you’re in the market for the new Mk8.5 GTi, you need to be taking home between R60,000 and R80,000 a month - or between around R720,000 and R960,000 per annum. Well, if responsible lending practices are followed, but here in SA it’s not uncommon to see someone paying R5k rent and R25k on a car…
Take a look at the YouTube video that's not really related to the topic of the price of a GTi over the years, but it does show the performance and spec changes over the years in a drag race comparison by the crew over at Carwow: VW Golf GTI Generations DRAG RACE | carwow
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