Volkswagen plans to bring the new Golf GTD to the United States along with the other models of the seventh-generation Golf, after all, says a report from Autonews. The GTD will be the brand’s first performance-oriented diesel car ever sold in the United States.
While the Golf and the Golf GTI will launch stateside next year next year as 2015 models, the Golf GTD will arrive in 2015 as a 2016 model, according to Andreas Valbuena, product manager for the VW Golf. The German automaker’s exec estimates the Golf GTD will have a starting price of around $27,000 (€20,750).
“We see it as a very important part of our full range of offerings, a technology halo for our diesel technology,” Valbuena was quoted as saying by Automotive News at a press briefing.
He went on to say that, VW estimates the GTD can make up between 5 and 10 percent of Golf diesel sales, which sounds like a realistic target, as Volkswagen’s U.S. diesel sales have been on the rise lately. VW is set to sell 100,000 diesels in the United States in 2013, 10 percent more than last year. In 2012, VW sold 40,885 Golfs in the country.
Available as a three- and five-door hatchback, the Golf GTD is powered by a 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder engine developing 184 PS (181 hp) and 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque in European guise. It sprints from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.5 seconds and reaches a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). The Euro-spec VW Golf GTD averages 4.2 liters/100 km (56 mpg) and emits 109 g/km of CO2. To reduce nitroged oxides emissions, the car will use an urea tank to be filled when owners will change their oil.
Launching this summer in Europe, the Golf GTD borrows the sports suspension of the Golf GTI, as well as the more aggressive body kit and interior upgrades.
By Dan Mihalascu
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