New Volkswagen Golf Won’t Come to the U.S. Until 2014

Although Europeans will be enjoying the new Volkswagen Golf as early as next month, the seventh generation of the iconic hatchback is not scheduled to appear on our shores until mid-2014—not next fall as we’d been told previously. Rainer Michel, Volkswagen of America’s vice president of product marketing and strategy confirmed the delay, pushing American deliveries nearly 18 months behind Europe. The upside is that VW still plans on releasing the Golf and the GTI simultaneously in the U.S. market.

Michel said that given how crucial the Golf MkVII is to the company’s European fortunes—the Golf is the brand in Europe—the Germans want to avoid unnecessary manufacturing complications at launch, including building U.S.-spec vehicles. VW of America stands to benefit from this arrangement as well, by having the more expensive and profitable GTI available from the start. The GTI is the best-selling version of the Golf in the U.S. this year, making up 41 percent of sales, against 25 percent for the TDI diesel and just 24 percent for the standard Golf.

Given the timeline, it’s all but certain that the new Golf will go on sale in the U.S. as a 2015 model—in time for its 40th anniversary. (Of course, that first Golf debuted in the U.S. as a 1975 model, carrying the “Rabbit” moniker.) Volkswagen officials said that planning for the North American market is ongoing, including deciding where the cars are going to be assembled. While the current Golf and GTI are built at the venerable Wolfsburg plant in Germany, there is some speculation that Golf production could be moved to Mexico, joining the Jetta at the company’s Puebla factory.

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• Instrumented Test: 2012 Volkswagen Golf R
• Long-Term Road Test Intro: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
• First Drive: 2013 Ford Focus ST

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The Golf MkVII rides on the Volkswagen Group’s new MQB platform, which will be shared with the new Audi A3. A new base engine will power the Golf, likely a version of the turbocharged and direct injected 1.8-liter four-cylinder that makes 158 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque in the European Passat. While Volkswagen has only confirmed the 1.8T for the 2014 Jetta and 2014.5 Passat, it has indicated that the Golf’s 2.5-liter five-cylinder is not long for this world. Volkswagen has said that the 1.8-liter will be built in Mexico at its Silao plant.

The sixth-generation Golf and GTI have been selling well in the U.S., with sales up nearly 20 percent this year, meaning Volkswagen of America is under no pressure to accelerate its schedule. At least not until American VW fans find out how good the Golf MkVII actually is.

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