Volkswagen Australia is reopening orders for the Golf R after a huge year for its performance vehicle range.
Sales of Volkswagen’s GTI and R models increased by 264 per cent in Australia in 2023, despite Golf R orders being paused for much of the year.
With Golf R orders re-opened, the next deliveries are expected from June 2024.
It had paused orders in February 2023 due to component shortages, but still managed to deliver 37 examples in the first half of the year plus a stronger 309 in the second half.
The entire GTI and R range is therefore now back on sale – apart from the Golf R wagon, axed last year – and will be bolstered by the new Touareg R in April.
Volkswagen sold 5499 GTI and R vehicles in Australia in 2023, and our country was the number one market for the Tiguan R and T-Roc R.
The Tiguan R was the best-selling model in Volkswagen’s performance vehicle range with 2227 sales (up 684 per cent on 2022’s tally), followed by the T-Roc R and R Grid Edition (1846 sales combined, up 226 per cent).
The brand’s hot hatches were further back, but still grew in sales. Volkswagen sold 346 Golf Rs (up 129 per cent), 693 Golf GTIs (up 87 per cent), and 387 Polo GTIs (up 178 per cent).
Volkswagen says it could sell the Polo GTI in greater volumes if supply was stronger. The company has been grappling with supply issues for several models over the past few years.
Though the Tiguan R is Volkswagen’s best-selling performance vehicle in Australia, no replacement has been confirmed for it. However, Volkswagen says it’s still on sale, with deliveries into the third quarter of 2024.
The Touareg R will sit atop Volkswagen’s performance range, while also serving as the brand’s first plug-in hybrid entry in Australia.
It’s priced at $129,990 before on-road costs, and Volkswagen says it has received 500 expressions of interest since it announced pricing in December.
MORE: Everything Volkswagen Golf
MORE: 2022 Volkswagen Golf R review
