Questioning the wisdom of VWoA killing all US Golfs aside from the GTI and R

[Al_in_Philly]

I live in the heart of Philadelphia. Every day I walk my dogs about two miles, and as a result, I look around quite a bit. Being a very old (by American standards) city, many of the streets are quite narrow with one one lane for traffic and one side for parking. Demographically, people in this neighborhood (the Italian Market) are multi-erthnic professional couples/families. One thing that I've noticed is that on virtually every block there is at least one Golf (occaisionally two or three). That's about 5% of the parked cars--far more than all the other VW models combined. The only other car model which is as prevalent here is the Honda Fit. Around here, full sized SUVs are not very common. VW never really marketed the Golf in the US for at least the past 10 years. You wouldn't even see the car's image in any on-line ads, yet it was the perfect city car. And while I'm glad that the GTI and R will still be sold in the US, there was an untapped market for all of the Golfs which VW was simply blind to. So sad. Well, that's my little rant.

 

[kevinkar]

I have a feeling you can make the same case for a lot of other cars and not just the one you noticed. I never see Corvette or Camaro ads or marketing here in SoCal nor have I ever seen any ads for a Volvo V70R or the Golf either, especially the R. I honestly can't recall the last Accord ad I say for my wife's car. Other than enthusiast magazines or the internet, I've rarely seen in recent history any of the cars I bought in any marketing campaigns. Considering how many cars are bought around there, I don't think many manufacturers need to market anything anymore.

 

[OLD MEN RULE]

I think that VW has made a mistake by not selling the golf in N. America any longer. But I bet the reason is slow sales and not being made in Puebla Mexico any longer. VW wants to go up market like a step below Audi. And giving the lower priced autos to the Asian countries, just my guess. Too bad though I have enjoyed my golfs but like my present GTI MK 7.5. But I have NO interest in the MK8.

 

[bentin]

I hate the SUV-ification of everything, but isn’t a Taos roughly the same price and size as a Golf? I was always surprised how close in price Golfs were to GTIs when I saw them at the dealer.

 

[MonkeyMD]

When i bought my Golf in 2016, there was a $5k difference between Golf S and GTI S (without PP & LP). With there was an $8k difference. That's significant.

That was real world difference i saw at local dealerships when i was shopping. Not sure about msrp.

 

[snobrdrdan]

Back in 2009, I thought the (MK5) Rabbit was a good deal at $18k new or whatever it started at & that's what lured me into a VW dealership as I had never looked at them or even thought about a VW.
I ended up getting a GTI instead, but the attractive pricing of the Rabbit was what sent me down the VW rabbit hole.

 

[odessa.filez]

Wanted a GTI, but back in 2016 a wagon could be had for 18k so I talked myself into it.

It has limits for the enthusiast in terms of power and no LSD, but beyond that it's a super versatile car. Hwy mpg is awesome. Choice seat colors the GTI hasn't offered. Ride quality better in most trims. 94k on it now and I'll try and keep it for a few more years.

Somehow Mazda still supports the 3 across a broad range of trims and according to reviews it's a great car. At least VW hasn't killed the Jetta yet.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

I think that VW has made a mistake by not selling the golf in N. America any longer. But I bet the reason is slow sales and not being made in Puebla Mexico any longer. VW wants to go up market like a step below Audi. And giving the lower priced autos to the Asian countries, just my guess. Too bad though I have enjoyed my golfs but like my present GTI MK 7.5. But I have NO interest in the MK8.

Non-GTI Golf sales were weak in the US after the first two years of Mk7 sales. But then again VW did zero promotion of the Golf after the redesign, and its winning the Motor Trend COTY. No TV ads, no print/internet ads, no mention of the model in subsequent sales promotions. Instead, they pushed the Jetta. And the Jetta was a move down-market quality-wise, but a bigger value size-wise. The Mk7 Golf was constantly praised for punching above its price in terms of sophistication and quality--something that the Mk8 has fallen behind on, so I doubt that VW's lack of interest in the model had to do with building a higher quality product.

The Golf has consistently been one of the top selling cars worldwide; my point is that VWoA never picked up on the fact that there are major sectors of the buying public in the US whose car needs mirrored those in Europe and other densely populated areas of the world where space efficiency is a key selling factor. Not every American lives in suburbia and doesn't have to deal with parking on the street. VW made its mark in the US market through niche marketting. Remember the "think small" ad campaign. I'm not saying that VW should turn away from selling inefficient, bloated, SUVs, that many Americans seem to crave; just that the Golf, in all its iterations, is a great product for certain segments of the buying public, which VWoA never fully understood.

 

[Al_in_Philly]

I never see Corvette or Camaro ads or marketing here in SoCal. . .

It's as if auto makers forgot what a halo car is for: to generate brand admiration which gets people into the showrooms. Now it's "halo trucks." So sad.

 

[odessa.filez]

There used to be a

Yaris hatchback
Versa note hatchback
Accent hatchback
Fiesta hatchback
Focus hatchback
Fit
Mazda 2
Mazda 5
and a small number of city cars like the Iq and the fortwo

All gone now. Hard to blame VW for their thinking.

 

[Dadbus]

Enthusiast demand and average consumer demand don’t go hand in hand. Obviously, we want to see performance hatchbacks, wagons, but manufacturers see that the sales #’s and demand do not justify mass production of those vehicles. And with the electrification of vehicles ramping up, and less and less younger people actually driving, we’re going to see less fun cars as time goes on. Get them while you can.

If only BMW would bring the G8x wagon here…..

 

[RudyH]

I live in the heart of Philadelphia. Every day I walk my dogs about two miles, and as a result, I look around quite a bit. Being a very old (by American standards) city, many of the streets are quite narrow with one one lane for traffic and one side for parking. Demographically, people in this neighborhood (the Italian Market) are multi-erthnic professional couples/families. One thing that I've noticed is that on virtually every block there is at least one Golf (occaisionally two or three). That's about 5% of the parked cars--far more than all the other VW models combined. The only other car model which is as prevalent here is the Honda Fit. Around here, full sized SUVs are not very common. VW never really marketed the Golf in the US for at least the past 10 years. You wouldn't even see the car's image in any on-line ads, yet it was the perfect city car. And while I'm glad that the GTI and R will still be sold in the US, there was an untapped market for all of the Golfs which VW was simply blind to. So sad. Well, that's my little rant.

I agree with you...the thing is people don't buy new Golf's, they buy used Golf's. So VWofA doesn't care, they don't make a real profit on used Golf's...except maybe financing.

IMO, young people like / love the Golf, like when I see a Golf it is driven by a teen - 20 something...but more often than not they can't afford a new one. The immigrants that are at least here, come from Asia so a Toyota is a bit more common, vs European immigrants which would likely be found in a Golf.

That's my opinion though.

 

[sterkrazzy]

I have a feeling you can make the same case for a lot of other cars and not just the one you noticed. I never see Corvette or Camaro ads or marketing here in SoCal nor have I ever seen any ads for a Volvo V70R or the Golf either, especially the R. I honestly can't recall the last Accord ad I say for my wife's car. Other than enthusiast magazines or the internet, I've rarely seen in recent history any of the cars I bought in any marketing campaigns. Considering how many cars are bought around there, I don't think many manufacturers need to market anything anymore.

There's actually a commercial that I've seen a couple times now that advertises the R. Terrible commercial, but they've got one out there.

 

[krvnked]

in america they brought the Taos to replace the golf the problem is the Taos is priced like a GTI so it didn't really replace anything. the Taos should be 22-23k and max out with best trims around 28-29 but instead its going for over 30 starting and why would anyone buy a Taos for 30k????? absolutely everything is messed up right now

I am afraid that I think the car industry will be disrupted for years to come and this will ultimately lead to the death of the combustible engine and all car sales will go online or straight from manufacturer to consumer and delivered right to your door off a tow truck

 

[swifty1]

I have heard many auto journalists (Jason Camissa) say that small cars were really killed by their manufacturers, and not by the consumer. OEM's wanted to sell more SUV's because there is more profit margin built in and emissions / fuel economy / safety regs were all looser. So car companies simply stopped developing and advertising cars and put all their focus on SUV's. Even down to pricing strategies, often time the SUV comes with more standard features and better lease deals than the car from certain companies. They know that a market exists for cheap, small cars... they just simply aren't interested in selling them.