Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Volkswagen Golf prices

Volkswagen has confirmed that the Mk 6 Golf will start from £13,150 for the base 79bhp 1.4 S model when it goes on sale in January next year, an increase of £870 on the current entry-level model.

The range-topping 138bhp GT TDI five-door will set you back substantially more, at £20,980. The new GTi will join the range later in 2009.

Other petrol engines av...Read the full article

Autocar:

The range-topping 138bhp GT TDI five-door will set you back substantially more, at £20,980

WHAT?! The current list price of this model is £19,085! Thats a £2,000 price increase for a car which is substantially cheaper to build than the model it replaces. I think the current Golf was overpriced since its launch - but this taking the mickey! Hopefully buyers will vote with their feet.

Quattro369:

WHAT?! The current list price of this model is £19,085! Thats a £2,000 price increase for a car which is substantially cheaper to build than the model it replaces. I think the current Golf was overpriced since its launch - but this taking the mickey! Hopefully buyers will vote with their feet.

Let's hope they do because I for one think £13150 for a base model with 79bhp (in a car as heavy as the golf) is taking the complete and utter urine!

 

TegTypeR: It's now becoming clear why (in my experience) over half the time there's a car holding up a stream of others, it's a Golf - they are overweight and underpowered!

Any buyer could get as good a car (perhaps not quite as well engineered, but with better styling IMHO) for a lot less money. VW owners may think "It's cheaper overall because it doesn't depreciate as fast". Well a residual 55% of £15k (for the basic diesel) is £8250, a loss of £6k. Get something else as well equipped for £12k that may only be later worth 45% (ie £5400), actually saves the owner money! The higher the price from VW, the more money the owner will lose in depreciation.

Making the new Golf almost identical to the older one could also mean people wont bother trading in in these harsher times. Would the neighbours even notice?

Are VW going to update the Golf estate as well? The Mk5 hasn't been out that long, but it looks hideous, and could do with smartening up if anyone who wants a classy estate would buy one.

 Hah! You think they are expensive to buy?

Try taking it to a main dealer for servicing!

I've got a pain in my groin just thinking how hard they will kick.

We run a mk5 Golf and it's a good car. It was expensive, but the lower depreciation made it good value against the competition. I can't imagine the mk6 is going to have improved retained value figures just because it's more expensive, so where does this leave it?

 It looks like they are trying to compete more with the 1-series/A3 on price, but without the added value of the premium brand name.  Hmmm...

Why the 'new' Golf VI has gone up by up to £2,000:

"Wie zuvor wird der Golf in den Ausstattungen Trendline, Comfortline und Highline angeboten, die Preise liegen – bei besserer Ausstattung – zwischen 200 und 300 Euro über den Tarifen des Vorgängers." Autobild magazine 28.8.08

The above says that although the new Golf will be better equipped than its predecessor the prices will rise by between €2-300.

THE UK PRICES HAVE GONE UP BY BETWEEN £1-2,000 BECAUSE THE POUND HAS DEVALUED AGAINST THE EURO!

Volkswagen Germany has raised its prices by the equivalent of £225 for the current most expensive 2.0 TDI Highline spec model.

The cheapest new Golf, the 1.4 petrol Trendline spec. is €16,500, an equivalent of €1:80p to UK price for 1.4 petrol 'S' of £13,200.

The plain and sad fact is gentlemen and ladies that the British Pound has devalued by 15% against the euro in the last year or so and it looks like VW have used the new Golf introduction to bring UK prices almost exactly in line with the current euro exchange rate and why not, it is business, and they must make a profit. However, the fact is a on-cost of 1% in Germany for the new Golf has become up to 10% in UK.

horseandcart:

THE UK PRICES HAVE GONE UP BY BETWEEN £1-2,000 BECAUSE THE POUND HAS DEVALUED AGAINST THE EURO!

Well VW had better hope that the other Germans brands follow suit soon. Otherwise never mind the 1-Series, the upper end Golf models will be competing with the 3-series! 

THOSE PRICES ARE R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S!!!!!! £15800 for a base model diesel Golf? Come on VW - how do you expect to sell them in the current economic climate?!?! Stupid prices. If it's cheaper to make, how come they're selling it more expensively is what I'd like to know. I don't understand how they can charge such silly prices. You can have a brand new higher-spec diesel Kia Cee'd CRDi LS for over £1000 LESS than a base Golf, and the Kia comes with a 7 Year Warranty!!!!! Or I could have a top-spec diesel Cee'd Sport for £300 less than a base-spec Golf! And who cares about the badge differences now. I know which one I'd buy!

You have a Golf GT with trick suspion costing the same as an A3 or 1 Series with a comparable engine 118d (143) SE dyanmic £21185 and an A3 S Line with the same engine £22,020!!! The Audi you have the better quality and image and the 1 Series the RWD handling but both carry more badge Kudo's. All well saying about the Euro but unless other makers follow suit you have an overpriced hatchback!!!

JezyG:

All well saying about the Euro but unless other makers follow suit you have an overpriced hatchback!!!

It's immaterial to me what VW does with its pricing schemes, I was merely pointing out that it looks apparent that VW of UK have taken the opportunity to adjust prices to reflect the current euro to pound exchange rate with the Golf VI. If you look back the Golf V was priced around £1:€1.35-1.40 or so. I checked the figures about a month ago and recommended a hypothetical German buyer to source his Golf, the GTI especially, due to the even greater price discrepancy, from the UK due to the advantageous exchange rate. I'm sure that never happened, especially because VW UK wouldn't provide LHD cars, but it's quite obvious that VW has closed off that discrepancy between eurozone countries and UK.

We must remember that VW Group right now and Audi particularly are performing well above general market conditions. Germany's car market is about level for the year and France's up, compared to UK's which is headed down the pan. My point is the 700,000 or so Golfs VW needs to shift each year can be diverted to stable markets away from markets like UK in distress. The need to drop prices or not raise prices dramatically with a model change may not be clear cut for a pan-European car that's in good demand. Based on this I would expect the new Audi A3, to be introduced next year, to similarly undergo a step change upwards in prices as long as the pound remains weak against the euro, which is 90%+ certain. The interesting case, of the premium German makers, is BMW. They are struggling, relatively speaking at the moment, and the 3 series in particular is being pasted in its home market Germany by the A4, the C class and private sales of the 1 series. The 'new' 3 series did not undergo a price hike in the UK like the Golf when introduced last month, it would appear. I think this is because there would be customer resistance to paying say £2,000 more for a base spec model that to the untrained, non-nerd eye looks the same as the old 3 series. Plus, again, the 3 series sales are soft in the UK due to the 1 series cannibalising sales effect and the competiton from the A4/C class. One further fact to bear in mind is that a much higher proportion of Golf sales will be private customers paying with genuine money. The 3 series sales will be dominated by fleet and business sales. A Golf customer who values the brand and the perceived or otherwise quality will still plump for his Golf, whereas a fleet purchaser/business purchaser may be dissuaded by an extra £2K on a car which ultimately is not his and an A4 or C class or Insignia even that provides stiff competition.

Just looking at the New Golf technical specs - wasn't the 2.0 TDI (110) supposed to emit just 119 g/km of CO2? It's listed as 128 g/km in the Golf brochure.