VW Polo GTI is already phasing out...

[proalves]

VW Polo GTI is already phasing out in some European markets.

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... &sandbox=1

The source appears to be from Volkswagen, although so far only seen this news.
Here in Portugal the configurator was active again a few days ago but says subject to existing stock.

[SRGTD]

That’s interesting. If this news item is factual and not fake news, I wonder what that means for people who’ve ordered a GTI / GTI+ but not yet taken delivery. I‘d assume that anyone with a confirmed build week will get their car, but maybe not.......

Edit; just looked on the VW UK website - states that the GTI is available from stock only;

Probably explains why the GTI / GTI+ are no longer on the VWUK configurator.

[Ima]

Well after 4 months of waiting and no build date I’ll find out soon but it’s looking less promising by the day. Oh well I hope as dealers are opening on 1st June I might get an answer as VW customer services don’t have a clue.

[stuartrendall]

Surely with the car only having a 2 year life span it doesn't make sense to phase it out. I know they've been removed from configurations but surely that's due to either a back log of orders or a shortage in parts.

[SRGTD]

Surely with the car only having a 2 year life span it doesn't make sense to phase it out. I know they've been removed from configurations but surely that's due to either a back log of orders or a shortage in parts.

If this is a genuine news story, then the move to stop production of the Polo GTI is probably one step of many that VW might take in order to attempt to meet the EU 2021 average CO2 emissions target of 95g/km across a car manufacturer’s entire vehicle range. Manufacturers who don’t hit the target face significant fines; for every 1g/km of CO2 that a manufacturer exceeds the EU average emissions target by, it will be fined €95 multiplied by its volume of new-car registrations in the preceding year. So, by stopping production of cars with high CO2 emissions, focusing on hybrids and electric vehicles, these would be measures that would help achieve the target. I suppose that the overall fines will be lower than they might have been - assuming they’re calculated using 2020 new car registrations - because of the impact that COVID-19 will be having on 2020 new car production and registrations.

The news story at the link posted by @proalves doesn’t say for definite that VW are permanently stopping production of the GTI - it does state that the GTI might get certain modifications to make it ‘cleaner’, although whether or not that happens is anyone’s guess, and if it does, there’d almost certainly be a negative impact on performance.

With the above in mind, it seems strange that when the mk8 Golf GTI arrives, it’s been reported to have a conventional 2.0 petrol engine, rather than a petrol/electric hybrid, so will presumably have relatively high CO2 emissions. It’s also interesting to note that the entire mk8 Golf model range as it stands just now (currently 3 models; Life, Style and R-Line) all have CO2 emissions above the 2021 EU target - a CO2 range of 108g/km - 134g/km, depending on engine size / transmission.

[monkeyhanger]

I'm pretty sure that everyone who's paid money to their local dealership and had the order accepted by VW (even if they don't yet have a build date) will get their car built.

I can't see this being down to emissions rules coming in that are to be frank, ridiculous. Is there a single non- hybrid in the VW range that meets the 95g CO2/km that isn't a 1.6TDI?

There's something they could do immediately to reduce the CO2 output of the GTI, and that's to give it the 7 speed wet clutch DSG. The car doesn't suffer in any way for driveability having the 6 speed, but having that extra cog has got to improve urban driving output.

It's strange how that report suggests Spain can still order. This might be down to economics more than anything else - maybe the GTI+ is disproportionately high to produce vs the rest of the range? Maybe it has been successfully cannibalising Golf GTI sales? It might be something as simple as a short to medium term shortage of parts critical to the GTI. Who knows?

[lancslad1985]

Hopefully we will find out soon. I’m a bit gutted if this is true, as I’m coming up to the point where I can change car in the next few months and was looking forward to getting a polo gti. It’s still missing from the German configurator after a couple of weeks too.

I have emailed VW customer service but we shall see if they actually come back with a response.

[SRGTD]

In addition to the Polo GTI, there’s quite a few cars on VWUK website that are now only available from stock, but that’s down to them being previous generation models (mk7 Golf hatch, mk7 Golf estate, e-Golf, Golf SV). The only other exception is the Aerton, which is probably a low volume sellers so it might not be financially viable for VW to build it.

Cannibalising Golf GTI sales as monkeyhanger suggests, plus the cost of production compared to other Polos do sound more plausible reasons to remove the GTI / GTI+ from the Polo range. Looks like it may have sadly become a victim of its own success, and with the price of the mk8 Golf GTI when it arrives almost certainly being higher than the outgoing model, there’s a risk the Polo GTI at its current price point would steal even more Golf GTI sales.

As for the new emissions rules - with the exception of the zero emissions e-up!, I don’t think there’s a single car in VW’s current range that hits the new 95 g/km CO2 limit - not even the 1.6TDi Polo (127 g/km). Maybe these emissions rules are part of the reason behind the latest (larger than usual) price increase? VW aren’t alone in having a vehicle range that will miss - or is highly likely to miss - the 95 g/km emissions target though;
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/ ... ts-europe/

[lancslad1985]

What I do find interesting is the Audi variant is still available. Obviously they’re not concerned with these matters.

[lancslad1985]

What I do find interesting is the Audi variant is still available. Obviously they’re not concerned with these matters.

[monkeyhanger]

What I do find interesting is the Audi variant is still available. Obviously they’re not concerned with these matters.

Those planning on buying might need to buy an A1 with "40" engine designation to avoid missing out then. More than a Polo GTI, but will still be significantly less than a MK8 Performance Golf.

Prioritisation of parts perhaps? Maybe the Polo GTI has had its allocation of orders in and they've got to stop because allocation has been reached for parts needed to build them?

It may be that some things need to change in line with other models - the MK8 Golf has a new DSG gearstick - one of those awful looking stubby plastic matchboxes on an almost non-existent shaft, like BMW have had for ages on their autos. Maybe they need to pull the DSG only GTI until the new style of boxes come in, with perhaps a slight alteration of the gaiter surround trim?

For the very short term, cannibalistic of Golf GTI sales shouldn't be too much of an issue. New stock of MK7 GTIs is pretty much gone and you can't order a MK8 Golf GTI yet. It'll probably be a year until we see the first of those filter through.

[lancslad1985]

VW responded to my question on Instagram by saying production had been filled so it had been temporarily removed from ordering. They have confirmed it will be back, but cannot confirm the date.

[monkeyhanger]

VW responded to my question on Instagram by saying production had been filled so it had been temporarily removed from ordering.

Phasing out:-

[Cadwest]

Thought I just post a link of Rory Reed explaining the new emissions from 2021 for car manufacturers.

https://youtu.be/m6QucgKdjvA

[SRGTD]

VW responded to my question on Instagram by saying production had been filled so it had been temporarily removed from ordering.

Phasing out:-

It does make you wonder how thoroughly the journalists at motor1.com do their research and check their information sources for accuracy and validity of information before publishing fake news. Based on @lancslad1985’s post above, not very thoroughly it seems. Still, I suppose it helps maintain the volume of visits to the motor1.com website.