Locally-assembled cars usually have a decent market life, but not every model lucks out. Sometimes, things end as fast as they come, although not because of any shortcomings of the part of the product.
Case in point, the Volkswagen Golf TSI R-Line Mk8. Announced in October 2021 as a CKD model and previewed a month later, the car took some time to make its debut – expected to be launched in February 2022, it wasn’t until July last year that official pricing was finally revealed. At that point, its RM170,560 price was notably higher than the estimated RM155k to RM165k ventured by Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) back in February.
Now, well under a year since the final pricing was revealed (or a year and a half since it was first announced), the R-Line is no longer available for sale in Malaysia, confirmed by the absence of the model in the current product list on the Volkswagen Malaysia website.
So, what gives? It surely can’t be due to a lack of kit – the sporty R-Line, which was powered by the familiar 1.4 litre TSI engine with 150 PS and 250 Nm from 1,500 to 4,000 rpm, was well specified. Reportedly, sales of the car were decent, although decent might not have met expectations set out for it in terms of its expected volume from the CKD route.
Pricing could have also played it out of the game – with its price already somewhat disadvantaged at point of entry, we hear that increased production costs were anticipated, and that could probably have stopped it dead in its tracks.
In any case, we’ve reached out to VPCM to find out why the plug has been pulled on the variant. For now, if it’s a new Mk8 Golf you’re looking at, then it has to be either one of the two choices left available for the type, in this case the GTI or R.
GALLERY: Volkswagen Golf TSI R-Line Mk8
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Lousy spec and overpriced what did they expect?
This Golf can sell like hot cakes is price is around RM130k. VPCM always put pricing wrong.
tutup kedai jer la
Yep.. At 130k, I would change my 2020 Civic FC for it!
With CKD, the price should have dropped to RM120K for the TSI and RM170K for the GTI. Then only it can sell and cater to market. No point do CKD but maintain premium pricing.
Golf GTI is a decent car but is it worth RM227k? Good luck trying to push sales with that price.
Kinda bummed out that its not available anymore,
For its specs if its abit more cheaper i think it would sell better. Non DSG , while might be bad for some purists , its actually pretty decent with the conventional Auto!
Actually went to the showroom to checkout the Rline and might have pulled the trigger, alas the salesman told me R-Line is discontinued, and even then the current GTI’s without ADAS is stopping production to make way for GTI + ADAS (euro spec) which will have 10k price bump.
SIgh.. hopefully there are still more fun hatch’s when i can afford one.
“current GTI’s without ADAS is stopping production to make way for GTI + ADAS (euro spec) which will have 10k price bump.”
Big if true. I’m glad they’re feeling the burn now.
Volkswagen is in their find out era and we love to see it
So, after ‘ might have pulled the trigger ‘, you went to and get the Axia im i right?? Dont know what BS to trust anymore nowadays
“[…] although not because of any shortcomings of the part of the product” — seriously? At 170k at launch with no AEB/ACC with only 150PS, it is at a severe disadvantage compared to other cars in the segment.
I implore the author to be more honest and bold in terms of challenging the reasons that caused this premature demise. Looking at the comments from the official launch and price reveal posts, the writing was on the wall, and I’m glad Malaysians voted with our wallets to show manufacturers that they can’t just come in and introduce subpar-specced cars and expect to get away with it every time.
And its not that the brand is so full of fantastic reliability stories that people might close an eye on the high price
Author is wrong. Price is not the issue but the spec and the look.
are you sure??? if you are not sure, sila tarik balik!!!
“It surely can’t be due to a lack of kit”. are we referencing the same golf launched in malaysia? the same one that doesn’t come with any of the active safety systems, even the basic ones available even in perodua cars?
and before the “you don’t need the safety systems to be able to drive” sure you don’t. but it’s more about future proofing your car. and cars aren’t cheap in malaysia. so perhaps consumers now are making more informed decisions looking at overall value when it comes to purchasing a new car.
I want your second paragraph to be shoved at Proton, Honda and Conti cars fans faces
for real though. i wished people clutched their purse strings a little tighter when automakers here launch tin kosong spec (or reduced specs when compared to other nations) cars in 2023. it’s insulting tbh.
Jz close CKD and focus ur import sales. As it is u exploit local customers, jz use import as excuse to maximise ur profit!
Put in the auto fold wing mirror plus the DSG gearbox and cut price by RM1OK, then can sell more.
This is what happens when you don’t put any advanced safety feature in your cars. Nowadays, there are many choice of cars with many safety feature for less than RM227k.
Well…surprised? Not at all. Not sure any sound minded person will buy this over a Civic or Altis. What is VWM thinking pricing at RM170K without even basic kit. But mission success for VWM letting people think that Civic is a great value deal.
Now the cheapest VW is GTI above 200k…VW is a folk’s car in Germany but try to be premium like BBA here…they just shoot their own foot by taking out basic spec like electronic folding mirror & charged 170k….then they stop selling volume sellers like polo, vento, Jetta…don’t know what their marketing department is smoking….
tiguan allspace 1.4 is still cheaper than the gti
Best selling car in Germany is VW golf. Best selling car in Msia is Myvi.
Ring the bell?
Writing was on the wall a long time ago. VW still too stubborn to update their cars with AEB safety system. Luckily BMW & Mercedes offers AEB now on their most basic models. Credit to paultan.org for being an advocacy of this requirement.
once bitten twice shy.. no more VW for me..
There is a saying that these German car makers- “they don’t make cars, they make money..!!”
Lol..VW Give free also i dont want
Sure boh
Once bitten twice shy
Good riddance. This car is a pain in the arse to operate with all those touch-only controls. Clearly a car designed by diversity hires and not by engineers. A car that appeals to non-binary, non-straight and non-cisgender folks, just like EVs.
girl are you ok?
Why do LGBT folks always misgender others as women by default?
VW time to leave Malaysia…
For M’sian mkt, i think ppl prefer SUV. Lots of Tiguan on the road nowadays. And for sedan, there are more Passat on the road compared to the latest camry & accord. But passat have been discontinued world wide….there are none available stock even here in Msia. So for the Golf, msian is the same as the US market…only the GTI & the R is available no normal golf.
Boring design. Old Passat cc the best design. New passat too boxy and boring design that s including golf. Should more fokus on design. Cos you already have that key.
I’m a manager of a multinational company. I decided against the GTI and ordered the new Axia instead. With the new CVT the Axia is as fast as the GTI and the extremely good 4 star rating makes the Axia the choice for safety-focused drivers.
Haha. Multinational as in Papua New Guinea, North Sentinel Island and Congo
Good product at too high a price.
And specs weren’t that good.
keep hallucinating and wet dreaming and selling ridiculously priced cars. soon all your car models will be removed from your website.
Best selling car in Germany is Golf Gti.
In Msia best selling car is MyVi.
Hope you understand what it means
For that price i prefer Hyundai i30N
2 variants priced close together, those prefer sporty go with gti, the other goes with tsi without the expansive R Line make up but replace with all safety and driving aid suites. That should be the marketing strategy
VW, pls leave.. ur not welcome here in Malaysia with ur ridiculous priced cars.. more poor than rich people here and u cant compete with car companies selling cheap and affordable cars here
Decent? Still so kind using such words? Come on, journalist need to be BRUTAL honest la…no such need to cakap berlapik. VW Malaysia these days mana ada decent sales already…their sales volume faster than birds dropping. In the past so focus on volume sales and neglected customer’s after sales, ni la mendapat.
VW price always not right at their size. Remember Polo GTi? Launching RM13xk, price up RM16xk.
Even normal Polo Tsi, launching RM11xk, price up and selling at RM13xk.
VW selling point is the power of the car. Not reliability.
MB/BMW selling point is the brand name.
tin kosong sausage
it is truly not about price at all. Honestly VW cars are a joy to drive one but looking at the spec sheet it is so dissappointing. It’s missing all advance safety features. Even the GTI one is missing the signature LED foglamps..
Thought they changed the new management things will become better but unfortunately, they carried the same mindset as previous management which is to chop down all the important specs that made the car a pleasure to have one. It is not about driving enjoyment only these days, people do want the advance safety features, ACC etc.
If the R-Line is fully loaded with features, i’m pretty sure we’ll see a lot of them on the road.