VW to eliminate base Golf, keep GTI and Golf R in U.S.

Only the performance variants of VW's Golf lineup will survive in the States, according to a report.

Volkswagen's iconic compact hatchback will be pulled from U.S. showrooms due to slow sales, leaving only the hotted-up GTI and Golf R models behind to carry the banner.

A Volkswagen representative disclosed to Motor1.com that the base model along with the Golf SportWagen (formerly Jetta SportWagen) will be discontinued in the United States upon the introduction of the eighth-generation Golf family. The enthusiast-darling GTI and Golf R models will remain.

According to the report, no decision has been made about the e-Golf or all-wheel-drive Alltrack variant of the SportWagen.

So far in 2019, GTI sales alone have accounted for almost 42% of Golf sales in the United States. The total volume of 11,468 Golf variants sold in 2019 is only a slightly greater volume than the number of Tiguans sold in April alone. The compact Jetta outsells the Golf family by a margin of more than 2-to-1.