Volkswagen ends production of Golf for US market after nearly 50 years

Volkswagen has officially ended the production of its longstanding Golf hatchback, first introduced back in December of 1974 in the US market. The model year 2021 Golf models built at the Puebla, Mexico plant are expected to sustain sales throughout the year.

Nearly 2.5 million Golf family models have been sold in the US since 1974 and the hatchback has also featured in various top-ten lists over the decades.

Though the standard Golf will be dead in the US, the family nameplate won't be the last one with the arrival of the 2022 Mk 8 Golf GTI and Golf R. "While the seventh-generation Golf will be the last of the base hatches sold here, the GTI and Golf R will carry its legacy forward," said Hein Schafer, Senior Vice President, Product Marketing and Strategy, Volkswagen of America.

The 2022 Golf GTI will source energy from a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing output of 245 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque. The engine unit comes paired with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic as an option.

Meanwhile, the 2022 Golf R will have a more powerful 2.0-liter engine, expected to produce 315 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque with the same choice of transmissions. As standard, it will get 4Motion all-wheel drive with torque vectoring and a special drift mode.

The 2021 standard Golf will be sold in the US trough the year in a single trim , unlike multiple configurations that the Europe gets. It will feature a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine with 147 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. This will be mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or an eight-speed automatic with Tiptronic.

It will be priced at $23,195 for the standard six-speed manual transmission while the one with the eight-speed automatic transmission's price will start at $23,995.