Remarkable car, the Volkswagen Golf R is. But there’s something wrong with it: it’s dead. Or is it?
According to Motor Authority, the Golf R has been dropped from the Golf lineup, with only a Value Edition, GTI, and E-Golf remaining available for the 2020 model year. However, this doesn’t mean that the Volkswagen Golf R is pining for the fjords, bereft of life; an ex-product. Volkswagen has pulled the Golf R from its lineup simply because the current, seventh-generation Golf is approaching the end of its product cycle. Come October, Volkswagen will reveal the eighth-gen (or Mark 8) Golf, which we’ve known for months will spawn an R variant that will be sold in the United States.
“The Golf R and GTI are confirmed, but other Golf models are still under consideration for the North American Region,” a Volkswagen spokesperson The Drive back in May in regards to the next-gen Golf.
This same spokesperson confirmed to The Drive on Wednesday that Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg plant (where the Golf R is built) is being retooled to produce the new Golf, hence the end of the seventh-gen Golf R. This retooling is part of an approximately 2.2 billion-dollar factory upgrade that, if Brazilian spy photos are to be believed, has already resulted in the construction of the first eighth-gen Golfs.
Uncertainties about the next Golf remain, but they’re less controversial than the supposed end of the enthusiast’s favorite, the Golf R. We aren’t yet sure that Golfs more affordable than the GTI will continue to be sold stateside, or just when the new Golf will arrive in U.S. showrooms, but for now don’t panic, and always look on the bright side of life.