Here’s a surprising statement from Volkswagen of America CEO Michael Horn: he says he expects that the Golf SportWagen will outsell the regular Golf hatchback.
Why is that surprising, you may ask? Because U.S. customers are not known as big fans of wagons. Still, Horn says the Golf SportWagen will be appealing because it will offer all-wheel drive. The executive also bases his statement on the fact that the Jetta SportWagen has an extremely loyal fan base.
By offering an AWD option on the Golf SportWagen, Horn is confident the vehicle will lure many crossover buyers because there are few all-wheel drive wagons with a similar price on sale in the U.S. today (for some reason he doesn’t take Subaru into account). VW plans to add 4Motion capabilities at its plant in Puebla, Mexico before the SportWagen launches in the U.S.
The best-selling model in the Golf family in the U.S. is the 2015 VW Golf GTI, with 50 percent of the nameplate’s sales, followed by the Golf TDI (30 percent) and Golf TSI (20 percent). But when the Golf SportWagen goes on sale, VW expects it to outsell all versions of the Golf hatchback combined.
In another VW Golf-related news for the U.S. market, you probably know that VW will not sell the Golf R Variant in the U.S.. Still, executives don’t rule out a production version of the 400PS (395hp) Golf R 400 concept unveiled earlier this year in China.
Volkswagen board member for development, Dr. Heinz-Jakob Neusser, says the car could be produced, at least in Europe. “We first need to make the final decision to produce it, and when we will produce it, I think each market will be interested to have it,” Neusser told Automobile.
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