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Why are US Golf sales so low?

dm33

Passed Driver's Ed
Location
Raleigh, NC
Golf (not GTI/Golf-R/Wagen) February VW sales in US,

Feb 2018: 505
Feb 2017: 1094
Yr/Yr% change: Down 53.8%

Year to date
Feb 2018: 1000
Feb 2017: 2307
Yr/Yr% change: Down 56.7%

Looks like all of VW car models are down vs. last year. Only SUVs and CUVs are up to make overall sales up for the year.

I obviously think the Golf should be selling in much higher volume in the US. I used to have a Nissan Leaf that I thought had low sales but they range from 1000-3000/mo, much higher than the Golf.

GTI did much better, down only 13% for the month and down 8% YTD.
Looks like the Golf-R isn't sold any more.
SportWagen down 39% for the month and 41% YTD.

Thoughts?
 

BronxBomber

Ready to race!
Location
Orlando,FL
There aren’t anymore drivers. Everyone is jumping on the Crossover bandwagon. Ford has even stated that they’re cutting most of their “car” models down and concentrating on crossovers, SUVs and pickups. The car market as a whole is down compared to last year. We enthusiasts are a dying breed. Enjoy your cars while you can. Soon we’ll be being driven by automated tablets on wheels.
 
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BxGTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Bronx,NY
Model refresh perhaps, same as the Leaf


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KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Probably a lot of factors, but I've always blamed VWoA marketing for being a major thorn in the side of sales numbers here. Their ads have been awful for decades, despite switching ad agencies many times. Remember the Jetta ad a few years ago, with the guy licking the door handle just as another customer was about to test drive the car he wanted? Yeah, that kind of "marketing" will really ignite interest in your cars.
 

Urlik

Go Kart Newbie
Location
San Angelo, TX
Because Americans only like their hatchbacks huge, lifted, and called anything but a hatchback.

The R numbers are zero because the 18s haven't made it to dealers yet.
 

Gogo GTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Boulder, CO
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
Awful for decades? Thats a bit much. I actually like a lot of their past ad campaigns. The “unpimp your ride” with Peter Stormare for the MKV was great. Also liked the darth vader kid that came out 4 superbowls ago.


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MSchott

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Michigan
No surprise. No one in the US buys small cars these days. Chrysler got out of the business and GM and Ford are spending no money on small car development.
 

KevinC

Autocross Champion
Location
The land of Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday
Car(s)
'19 Golf R, '21 M2c
Awful for decades? Thats a bit much. I actually like a lot of their past ad campaigns. The “unpimp your ride” with Peter Stormare for the MKV was great. Also liked the darth vader kid that came out 4 superbowls ago.

I agree, those were a couple of good ones - but rare. FAR more horrible ones over the years. The last good ones before those were back in the Mk1 GTI era.

Also, while the "unpimp your ride" stuff was fine for appealing to a youthful GTI target audience, do you think that did anything for a middle-aged couple shopping for a frugal hatchback? If anything they probably would have been turned off by it.
 

Jack Straw

Ready to race!
As a card carrying geezer who is just a bit cynical about my fellow man I say that the average car buyer can't tell a good car from his own ass.
Most car buyers are monkey see, monkey do about what they'll drive.
 

The Stig2

Ready to race!
Location
New York
The 2018 Golf MK 7.5 only went on sale in the US in late Feb, and they had stopped selling the 2017 Golf MK7 months ago, so sales for Feb were obviously down as there were no Golf’s to sell. You can’t sell what you don’t have. 2018 Golf R hasn’t yet gone on sale. VW US are there own worst enemies I am afaraid, and seem to be going out of their way to marginalize their US base hatchback customers. On the flip side, most American’s just aren’t interested in hatchbacks, so very little incentive for VW US to care about the minority of us. It’s such a shame because I have always been a big fan of the Golf family, and really wish VW had a market in the US to incentivize them to up their game and offer us the same as they offer across the pond.
 

Shane_Anigans

Drag Race Newbie
Location
SE MI
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport DSG
Everyone who would have bought a compact car bought a micro-crossover (Trax/HR-V/CH-R/whatever) instead, just as the midsize sedan buyers are moving into the larger crossovers, causing sedan sales to plummet as well. It's not really a surprise, since there are fewer drivers who are concerned with acceleration, handling, or anything else that enthusiasts like us are interested in. Once the the SUV went from being truck-based to being a tall unit-body station wagon, the fuel economy penalty went away and the ride/handling became good enough for the average commuter to tolerate on a daily basis.

The commute is the other thing, with more people commuting further, they tend to buy cars that are more like appliances, purchased with the same criteria.
 

Jovian

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Denver, CO
Car(s)
2016 VW GTI
Probably because there is nothing special about the golf other than being a solid car. Its too expensive for a cheap car, doesnt have any special feature to make it stand out, isnt a new revolutionary new design. VW has a history of being unreliable regardless of how it is currently. These all added up makes buyers looking for a cheap commuter car turned off. This leaves people who want a quality car thats enjoyable to drive but cant afford a GTI. Very slim market.

Non-performance people dont want a regular car, they want a gimmick. Hence the Prius.
 

Gogo GTI

Go Kart Champion
Location
Boulder, CO
Car(s)
2017 GTI Sport
I wonder where golf sales are concentrated and the demographics involved. The MK7, GTI, eGolf, and Golf are extremely common in the sf bay area. Average driver looks to be 40-50 years old, white, even mix of male/female. Thats just based on my very unscientific observations.


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