Sunset

Volkswagen recently announced that it is retiring the Eos hardtop convertible after the 2015 model year, after ten years of production.

The Eos may have been VW's ultimate "chick car," which makes the fact that is was named for the Greek goddess of the dawn seem appropriate.  In addition to being a cool, stylish coupe, it has a retractable hardtop that just screams feminine sophistication.  The mechanical wonders that allow the hardtop to be tucked into the back, and the elegance it exudes with the top up or down, all make for a great ride for today's modern, refined woman.  And I know a few women who would look great in an Eos (assuming they don't have one already).  

Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, though, concluded that there is too much overlap in VW's various car lines, with convertibles being the most blatant example.  The Eos is obviously rather expensive, plus there's also the equally obvious fact that retractable-hardtop convertibles have too many working parts, have tops that are too heavy, and lose a lot of luggage space with the top down.  So the Eos is out.  Ragtops, it seems, have been deemed more practical for an otherwise impractical (but fun) body style.

If you live in the United States or Canada, however, and you want a VW ragtop convertible, the retrograde Beetle is your only recourse.  But in the Old World, Volkswagen customers have another choice.

Although the convertible version of the Volkswagen Golf disappeared from this side of the pond back in 2002, it's still around in the Old World; the current (as of this writing, of course) Golf Cabriolet is pictured above.  It seems that there are many Europeans who want a convertible that's more up to date and more modern-looking than the present-day, retrograde Beetle Cabriolet.  So they get convertible versions of both the Beetle and the Golf.  I love them both.  And I would love to see Americans and Canadians get the same choice of VW convertibles - retro or modern.  But Volkswagen has decided that we in These United States and the Great White North don't need this droptop Golf, so long as there's a Beetle convertible.  VW would rather give us a midsize SUV that looks like a retrograde Jeep Cherokee.

And you wonder why VW sales in the U.S. are slipping!