Volkswagen Golf R returns to Oz

The order book for the Volkswagen Golf R has been reopened in Australia after sales were halted in early 2023 due to parts shortages and intense customer demand for the German brand’s performance-leading hatch.

The next significant shipment of the 2024 Volkswagen Golf R will arrive in June.

Despite the lack of supply for Golf R and Golf GTI in the first half of 2023, VW Australia recorded a massive 264 per cent uptick in sales across its GTI and R performance lines, led by the Volkswagen Tiguan R which found a whopping 2227 buyers last year.

Together with strong sales of the Volkswagen T-Roc R, Australia is now the world’s number-one global market for Tiguan R and T-Roc R models.

Even with a lack of supply, the stove-hot Volkswagen Golf R recorded 346 sales in 2023, while 693 Golf GTI hot hatches were snapped up by Aussie buyers last year.

An updated Volkswagen Golf R is due to be revealed later this year, with a focus on interior improvements.

The brand’s smallest and most affordable performance car, the Volkswagen Polo GTI, also saw a big uptick in sales (more than doubling year-on-year) with 387 units in 2023.

Tiguan R supplies were bolstered in recent months and are expected to be plentiful until the third quarter of 2024, at which point local stock will dry up as production of the next-generation Volkswagen Tiguan commences. Aussie deliveries of the new Tiguan are expected to flow from early 2025.

In total, 5499 Volkswagen R and GTI models were sold in 2023 and Volkswagen Australia says that all models have the potential to sell in considerably higher volumes should supply continue to improve.

VW Australia’s head of product for passenger vehicles, Michelle Rowney, said 2023’s bumper sales results would have been even higher if the brand didn’t have to pause sales on key performance models and had access to more vehicles.

“The fact that Volkswagen’s most premium positioned models are among the most popular in this country simply illustrates the affinity that Australians have for the brand, and how they value quality and engineering expertise,” she said.

VW Australia will add another scorching performance model to its range from April 2024, when the Volkswagen Touareg R large SUV arrives here.

Priced from $129,990 plus on-road costs, the 340kW/700Nm Touareg R leverages a similar V6 plug-in hybrid powertrain to the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and is claimed to rip from 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds.

According to the German brand, more than 500 Aussie customers have already registered their interest in the big bruiser.

Total sales for Volkswagen in 2023 across its entire range were up 41 per cent to 43,821 units.

VW’s top-selling vehicle in Australia was the T-Roc small SUV, shifting just shy of 9000 vehicles for the calendar year.