Golf White North

The good news is that buyers in North America will be able to purchase the base version of the eighth-generation Golf (below).  The bad news that these buyers are Canadian customers.  

Volkswagen Canada was adamant about keeping the base Golf in its lineup when it heard that Volkswagen of America - to which the Canadian division is usually joined to the hip - was thinking of selling only the more expensive GTI and R variants in North America, and Volkswagen AG responded favorably.  As much as I hope that the confirmation of the base Mark 8 Golf for north of the border means we could still get it on this side of the 49th parallel, we might still miss out on the car.  This wouldn't actually be the first time Canada has gotten cars we Americans haven't.  They got a Mercedes hatchback we never got, and Hyundai started selling cars in Canada four years before the brand debuted in the United States; its debut Canadian model was never sold here.  Heck, I remember seeing four-door Honda Civic hatchbacks on a trip to Canada when I was fifteen, when the U.S. got only two-door Civic hatchbacks.

And this wouldn't be the first time that the Canadians get a Volkswagen model that we Americans don't.  They got the Type 3 Notchback in the sixties; we only got the Fastback and Squareback.

It's also noteworthy that nearly three out of every four Golfs sold in Canada is a base model instead of a sport model; the opposite is true here, and Golfs account for only one out of ten Volkswagens sold in the U.S. while they account for one out of four sold in Canada.  It seems like Canada is joining the rest of the world on the base Golf, while the U.S. can't be bothered.  So think of the base Golf as the Paris Agreement of automobiles.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen is expanding its line of SUVs in America, and they now account for 54 percent of all vehicles VW sells here.  I'm pissed off.  I wonder how many other VW purists are pouring out their dinner over this.

There's still hope that the base eighth-generation Golf will still be available in the U.S. for the die-hard VW fans like myself who want one, but it's a slim chance at best.  I doubt that there's anyone at Volkswagen of America who's willing to fight for loyal base-Golf customers as there is in Volkswagen Canada.  I guess I'll have to hold on to my Mark 6 Golf for as long as I can if the base Mark 8 Golf doesn't get here.  And when my car wears out, expect to see me at a VW dealer in the Detroit area.

Specifically, in Windsor, Ontario.        

Buy a car in Canada and bring it back to the States?  It can be done.