Golf

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
Hatchback

The reveal of the next-generation Volkswagen Golf is imminent but the Mk8 has been delayed due to some technical glitches. Even when the car is finally revealed for Europe, it typically takes around one year before VW can start selling the car in the United States, if it even gets around to selling it at all. At the US launch event for the Arteon in California, Motor1 spoke with an employee from VW, who confirmed the eight-generation Golf and Golf SportWagen will not be available in the US. VW declined to comment further but this is crushing news for fans of the VW's popular hatchback.

There is a silver lining, however, because although the US won't receive the base Golf or Golf SportWagen, the GTI and Golf R will both be safe. VW didn't provide an official explanation for why the base Golf is being discontinued for the US but the reasoning isn't hard to make out. The GTI and R models already account for around 48% of all Golf family sales and the GTI outsells the standard hatchback model almost three-to-one.

If we had to choose one Golf model for VW to kill off, we are happy it is the base model rather than the GTI or R models. And with no base Golf model to sit below the GTI, we wonder if it will drop the Golf name entirely when it is offered in the US. VW has called it the 'GTI' in the US without attaching the Golf name in the past, so this is a very real possibility.

This also brings into question the future of other Golf variants like the e-Golf and Alltrack. With VW set to debut a new line of electric ID vehicles, it may not make sense to bring out a replacement for the e-Golf. As for the Alltrack, it could potentially get the axe due to its raised ride height, which is similar to an SUV's. The news about the base Golf not being offered here is certainly sad, but it could have been much worse if VW decided not to bring the GTI and Golf R to the US either.