Photo: Volkswagen
About a day ago, British media reported that the Golf Cabriolet was being removed from their lineup. However, the model has gone completely missing on a global scale, together with its Eos cousin.
Except for the US one, most major markets have VW configurators based and linked to the one in Germany. We tried a few tricks, but couldn't get to the Golf Cabriolet in any way.
So is it gone? Very possible. In the past few months, the once messy VW configurator has been cleaned up. We can now count all the versions of the Up! without using the toes. That said, there are still too many versions of the Golf. You've got two separate trim levels for the BlueMotion and something called "ALLSTAR."
The Eos is also dead, and I am going to shed a few tears for that sleek machine. But it was time for it to go. The only convertible Volkswagen that can be ordered right now is the Beetle Cabriolet. But hey, many regular companies don't even have one.
Autocar magazine also provides us with some valid numbers, at least for the UK market. Last year, only 1,621 units of the roofless Golfs were sold in the UK. That would make it about as rare as an Aston Martin. The Beetle Cabrio isn't going much better, with 1,284 clients last year.
That scares us a bit since rumors suggested Volkswagen will discontinue the Beetle entirely in 2018. What's more, Audi has pretty much made up its mind about the A3 Cabriolet as well. So all the soft-tops within the group will be premium or luxury ones.
All these models are pretty old, being based on the PQ35 platform that precedes the MQB's arrival in 2012. That's not strictly a problem from an engineering point of view, but Volkswagen is now the tech-savvy company that wants to make a 400-kilometer EV. So you can't have any of that old school stuff.
So is it gone? Very possible. In the past few months, the once messy VW configurator has been cleaned up. We can now count all the versions of the Up! without using the toes. That said, there are still too many versions of the Golf. You've got two separate trim levels for the BlueMotion and something called "ALLSTAR."
The Eos is also dead, and I am going to shed a few tears for that sleek machine. But it was time for it to go. The only convertible Volkswagen that can be ordered right now is the Beetle Cabriolet. But hey, many regular companies don't even have one.
Autocar magazine also provides us with some valid numbers, at least for the UK market. Last year, only 1,621 units of the roofless Golfs were sold in the UK. That would make it about as rare as an Aston Martin. The Beetle Cabrio isn't going much better, with 1,284 clients last year.
That scares us a bit since rumors suggested Volkswagen will discontinue the Beetle entirely in 2018. What's more, Audi has pretty much made up its mind about the A3 Cabriolet as well. So all the soft-tops within the group will be premium or luxury ones.
All these models are pretty old, being based on the PQ35 platform that precedes the MQB's arrival in 2012. That's not strictly a problem from an engineering point of view, but Volkswagen is now the tech-savvy company that wants to make a 400-kilometer EV. So you can't have any of that old school stuff.
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