Next-Gen VW Golf And Golf SportWagen Might Not Come To America

Volkswagen is putting the finishing on the redesigned Golf, but we might not see the standard model stateside.

Citing an unnamed employee, Motor1 is reporting Volkswagen of America has decided against selling the next-generation Golf and Golf SportWagen. Instead, the company will only offer the Golf GTI and Golf R.

The move would be a big change, but it wouldn’t be unprecedented as Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors have all trimmed their car lineups in the United States. The publication also noted the standard Golf isn’t very popular.

According to Volkswagen of America’s April sales numbers, the company only managed to sell 772 Golfs and 900 SportWagens. For comparison, the automaker moved 1,199 Golf GTIs and 411 Golf Rs.

In 2018, the Golf GTI was the volume leader as VW sold 16,684 units. It was followed by the SportWagen (14,123) and standard Golf (6,642). Rounding out the lineup was the Golf R (3,468) and e-Golf (1,354).

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Nothing is official at this point, but we’ve reached out to Volkswagen for comment. If the report is true, it would be sad for a number of reasons as the Golf SportWagen is one of the few remaining station wagons in the United States. If it – and the similar Golf Alltrack – are killed, it would effectively leave the Subaru Outback as the only mainstream wagon in America.

However, it’s not hard to see Volkswagen’s potential logic. The Jetta is $3,100 cheaper than the Golf and last month it outsold the model by a factor of more than 10:1. The company also wouldn’t completely abandon the segment as it would continue to sell the Golf GTI and Golf R.