After 47 years, seven generations, and nearly 2.5 million models sold, VW Golf production for the United States market has ended. VW expects the remaining 2021 Golf models, assembled in Puebla, Mexico, to meet consumer demand through the end of the year. As part of the phase-out, the VW Golf comes in just one trim level, the TSI, for 2021.

VW is shuttering the traditional Golf to make way for the 2022 Golf GTI and Golf R, due this fall. So, technically, the Golf name will continue in the United States, but the “regular ole” affordable Golf is going out to pasture.

Writing On The Wall

The Golf, regarded by many enthusiasts as a car with character, has likely (and unfortunately) fallen on deaf ears in an American market dominated by trucks and SUVs. That’s a high hurdle for little cars like the Golf to overcome. However, even in a car-to-car comparison, buyers are more apt to favor traditional sedans than a hatchback. Even within VW, the Jetta is arguably a more attractive option to the average consumer.
VW made a similar move in the summer of 2019 with the Golf name, ceasing production of the Golf Alltrack and Golf SportWagen as SUV sales industrywide – including VW’s own Atlas and Tiguan – continued to climb. ?SUVs have definitely assumed the mantle of family haulers from the station wagons and minivans we remember from our childhoods,? said Scott Keogh, President and CEO, Volkswagen of America, Inc., at the time

2021 VW...