VW Golf 7.5 to recapture sales
Volkswagen Group Australia says it expects to exceed last year’s Golf sales tally with the ‘7.5’ series launched last week, but the company concedes it will not reach the 30,000 to 40,000 annual units recorded by its Japanese and Korean competitors.
The heavily upgraded version of the German car-maker’s best-selling model ushers in major specification upgrades over the outgoing Golf 7, as well as price increases, new technology and subtle styling tweaks.
Last year, Volkswagen sold 19,470 Golf hatches and wagons – excluding the high-riding Alltrack that found 887 homes – which was an 11.9 percent fall on its record 2015 haul of 22,092 units.
Volkswagen Group Australia general manager of communications Paul Pottinger said the car-maker was determined to beat last year’s total with the arrival of the mid-life update this month.
“We want to sell 20,000 Golfs a year of all variants – Alltrack, wagon, hatch, GTI and R,” he said.
“We want to do about 20,000. I think we have to.”
Despite the expected lift in sales, Mr Pottinger said Volkswagen did not expect, nor was it aiming for, the Golf to hit the dizzying highs of the top sellers in the sub-$40,000 small-car segment, and took a swipe at some of its rivals.
“We don’t give away tens-of-thousands of cars to fleet. We are not a $19,990 car and we never will be,” he said.
“We don’t swim in that pool and I don’t think anyone expects us or wants us to.
“We don’t compete against cars that still don’t have independent rear suspension and still have 1990s ‘atmo’ engines.”
Last year, the Toyota Corolla was the most popular small car in Australia with 40,330 sales, followed by the Hyundai i30 with 37,772 sales and the Mazda3, 36,107, with the Golf taking fourth spot.
As previously reported, pricing on a large number of Golf variants has risen with the facelift, with the base 110TSI manual hatch up by $1150 over the outgoing version to kick the range off at $23,990 plus on-road costs, with a dual-clutch transmission adding $2500.
Pricing for the 110TSI Trendline has increased by $650 to $24,990 for the manual or $27,490 for the DCT, while the auto-only wagon is $1500 dearer than before and now starts at $28,990.
The auto-only Comfortline has risen by $650 for both the hatch and wagon, and all versions of the Highline have risen by $1150.
Highline variants are offered with both the 110TSI turbo-petrol and the 110TDI turbo-diesel, with prices starting at $34,490 for the petrol hatch and topping out at $38,490 for the oilburning wagon.
The jacked-up Alltrack wagon lineup has grown from one to three variants with the mid-life update.
There is a new entry-level 132TSI version from $34,490, the previous 132TSI gains the ‘premium’ badge for $38,490 – a $150 increase, and a $40,990 diesel-powered 135TDI flagship is also now available.
Mr Pottinger said the Alltrack fills a space in the VW line-up for buyers who do not want a traditional SUV.
“We make no secret of the fact that we as a company need more SUVS, but we do actually have a breadth of soft-road and off-road vehicles that others don’t,” he said.
“It’s not a sports utility vehicle, it’s a sporting utility vehicle – it’s a good deal more fun to drive.”
Mr Pottinger acknowledged there would likely be some crossover in sales of the Golf Alltrack and the Tiguan mid-size SUV.
“It’s a possibility. They might be looking for something practical, and by and large wagons are more practical than compact SUVS, just look at that boot space,” he said.
“It’s very possible that someone might look at a $40,000 Tiguan and think, look what I can get for a $40,000 Golf.”
VW’S spicier Golf GTI and R range – which has also increased with the addition of a wagon as a permanent member of the range – go on sale in August, with prices ranging from $41,490 for the manual GTI to $59,990 for the R Wolfsburg auto wagon.