2020 VW GTI gains more tech as starting price goes up by $1,025

The Volkswagen GTI is entering the 2020 model year with a longer list of standard features, and a correspondingly higher base price. 2020 might be the seventh-generation GTI's last model year on the American market, because its replacement is right around the corner.

Volkswagen dealers will charge $29,515 for an entry-level 2020 GTI S, according to CarsDirect. That figure includes a mandatory $920 destination charge. In comparison, the 2019 GTI S costs $28,490; the 2020 model's price increased by $1,000, and its destination charge went up by $25. Adding the optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission bumps pricing up to $30,315. The price difference between the standard six-speed manual and the optional dual-clutch is $800, however, compared to $1,100 during the 2019 model year.

In exchange, the 2020 GTI comes standard with automatic emergency braking, and a blind-spot monitoring system with rear cross-traffic alert. Both electronic driving aids were bundled into the $450 Driver Assistance package during the 2019 model year. Viewed in that light, the stock, six-speed GTI S costs $585 more in 2020 than it did during the previous model.

Moving up in the trim hierarchy, the 2020 SE model starts at $33,115 with a stick, and $33,915 with an automatic, increases of $425 and $125, respectively compared to 2019. There's no word yet on whether the Rabbit Edition will return, but the Autobahn package, which bundles a long list of creature comforts like adaptive cruise control and a Fender sound system, remains available at $4,300.

Volkswagen hasn't announced technical changes for the 2020 model year. That means the GTI carries on with a turbocharged, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that delivers 228 horsepower at 4,700 rpm and 258 pound-feet of torque at 1,500 rpm. It's quick, fun, and surprisingly frugal: Fuel economy checks in at 24 mpg in the city, 32 mpg on the highway.

The 2020 Volkswagen GTI will arrive in showrooms in the coming weeks. And while the German firm hasn't decided whether to sell the next-generation Golf in America yet, it confirmed the GTI and the hotter, four-wheel drive Golf R will return to our shores.