The Volkswagen Golf Hatchback Might Be Killed In The U.S
According to a report from Motor1, the next-gen base Golf hatchback won't be sold in the United States. The GTI and the Golf R will both live on in the U.S. Volkswagen says that other Golf models are "still under consideration" for the North American market, meaning that the base cars have a chance of being sold here after all. UPDATE 5/4/19: Volkswagen spokesperson Mark Gillies confirmed to C/D that the next-gen GTI and Golf R models will be sold in the U.S. This means that there's a chance that the base hatchback and SportWagen will make it to our shores when the eight-generation car arrives; Gillies also indicated that the U.S. Golf is a ways off and acknowledged reports of delays for the car's European launch, which will happen this fall. In October, Volkswagen will reveal the eighth generation of its Golf hatchback, pictured above in its near-production form.
But according to a new report from Motor1, it will be the first generation of the standard Golf hatch that will not be sold in the United States. This correlates with what we heard earlier this year from Volkswagen of America CEO Scott Keogh, who told C/D that the company was considering reducing the number of Golf variants it brings to the States. Hot-hatch fans need not worry, though, as the VW employee that broke the sad news to Motor1 also confirmed that the next-gen GTI and the Golf R will still be sold here. The source also said that the Golf SportWagen would be killed off, too, but doesn't say if the Alltrack variant will continue on. Our guess is that another Alltrack model is likely to come to the States. The e-Golf will not continue for this new generation at all, even for Europe, as its place in the VW lineup will be taken by the upcoming I.D.
While we lament the death of any good hatchback鈥攖here are so few of them available in the U.S. Golf lineup is a 10Best Cars award winner鈥攚e have to admit that we understand the business case. In 2018, VW sold 16,684 GTIs in the U.S. 6,642 Golf hatchbacks. Even the Golf R, which starts at almost twice the price of a base Golf, sold 3468 units. 14,123 Golf SportWagens were sold in 2018, but that figure includes sales of the Alltrack. In total, the GTI and Golf R make up almost half of total Golf sales. The Jetta compact sedan is surely a factor, too. Volkswagen sold more than 90,000 Jettas in the U.S. 2018, and the sedan is both larger and cheaper than the Golf hatch. We can see Volkswagen easily pushing any potential Golf hatchback buyers into either a Jetta or a GTI. And hey, maybe having the GTI as the entry into the U.S. Golf lineup will bring down its base price a little bit鈥攚e can dream, right?
TECH TALK: Volkswagen engine and DSG related issues. There has been a fair bit of Volkswagen related news this week and I thought I'd continue with something technical related. Over the last few months I have been driving a slew of Volkswagen cars. Anyway, the main issue why this article has come about is the fact that I hear and have listen to friends as well as others who tell me the horror stories relating to Volkswagen ownership in Malaysia. Most of this are related to engine troubles as well as the DSG transmission. But there is an exception. The fact that it has two forced induction turbines as well as being direct injected (which means a higher than usual engine compression ratio) should tell you that this isn't an ordinary engine. After a long drive in a Polo GTI when you try pop the bonnet you will find an extremely hot engine which engine bay heat reminds me of a friend's Lancer Evolution. The one in the Jetta 1.4TSI is the same as the one in the Polo albeit in a lighter state of tune. This means that it runs less hot that the Polo.
