Volkswagen shifting Golf production from Mexico to Europe?

The next Golf will again be imported from Europe.

The next generation of the Volkswagen Golf will be imported to the United States from Europe, not from Mexico. The information comes from sources familiar with the company's future product plans.

The 50-year old factory located in Puebla (about two hours outside of Mexico City) will stop building the Golf after the 2019 model year. The timing coincides with the end of the seventh-generation model's production run. The brand-new eighth-generation model that will arrive in time for the 2020 model year will be assembled in its home country of Germany, according to Mexican website Al Volante. The decision was taken to satisfy union leaders in Wolfsburg, the town where Volkswagen is based.

The issue goes beyond union demands. The publication explains Golf sales have dropped significantly in recent months due to quality issues tied to the Puebla factory. Officials hope moving production to Germany will fix some of those problems. There's no word yet on what effect the "made in Germany" label will have on price. It's also worth noting Volkswagen hasn't commented on the rumor, or even hinted at which country will build the next Golf.

If the report is accurate, Volkswagen's Puebla plant will have lost at least three models by the turn of the decade. Production of the Golf will move across the Atlantic, while production of the Beetle and the Beetle Cabriolet is scheduled to end at the end of this year. The retro icon's future remains up in the air. Some say it will come back as an electric car; others claim it will join the original, rear-engined model in the automotive industry's history department.

Puebla will nonetheless continue to be a major production facility for Volkswagen. It's already building pre-production examples of the seventh-generation Jetta, which is due to make its debut at the Detroit Auto Show, and it will soon start building the T-Roc, which won't be sold in the United States due to its small size. It also manufactures the Tiguan.