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Future car buyers considering the Volkswagen GTI will be without a two-door option. Going forward with the 2017 model year, VW will only be offering the hot hatchback as a four-door in the United States.
VW told Jalopnik that its American dealerships and buyers have told the automaker that, for the most part, everyone wants four-doors. To give the people what they allegedly want, VW will only be offering the four-door in America. Megan Garbis, a Product Manager for the VW Golf, told Jalopnik:
“Our buyers and our dealers say that they want a four-door. We’ve reduced the complexity, which allows the customer to configure the GTI he or she wants online and go to the dealership and pick it up today.Obviously, the Golf R has been a popular car in four-door trim, so we don’t feel that it will be a deterrent. Our GTI customers have families, and they want to be able to take them with them wherever they go.”
If you try to spec out a 2017 model year GTI on VW’s American website, you will find that the two-door option is already missing. From the sound of things, it appears that most of the people buying GTIs nowadays are just somewhat rational people who desire a reasonable amount of room in their daily driver. While there’s nothing wrong with that, still, the two-door GTI will be missed.
The Drive has contacted VW for comment and will update if we hear back.
UPDATE: 11:00pm, September 13th, 2016: VW has responded to The Drive’s request for comment with the following:
-Production ends within the next couple of weeks on the 2-door S trim GTI – which was the only 2-door GTI trim planned for MY17
-Therefore there will be a handful of 2-door MY17 GTI units “in the wild,” but the trim is no longer orderable and will end production this month
-This change comes about as a direct result of dealer feedback on reducing complexity, and buying trends that indicate the 4-door version of GTI is more popular, and that the 4-door-only Golf R situation doesn’t deter people from buying these cars
-There is no 2-door Golf TSI for MY17, for the same reasons as GTI
