They are very much still a thing, though, particularly the Golf.
While Toyota and Peugeot buyers have more decisively migrated to smaller cars and crossovers, the Golf remains Volkswagen’s biggest-seller in the UK.
The often glitchy and confusing multimedia, the cheapening of the cabin and the infernal touch-sensitive steering wheel buttons mean it hasn’t been as well liked as previous iterations.
On first acquaintance at its launch events abroad and in the UK, the ‘Mk8.5’ felt like a return to form for the Golf.
In the blue corner is the Peugeot 308, one of the more convincing cars to be spun off Stellantis’s front-wheel-drive architectures.

New VW Golf takes on Toyota Corolla and Peugeot 308