Volkswagen Golf R orders resume amid record GTI, R performance-car sales

The Volkswagen Golf R hot hatch is now available to order again in Australia after the handbrake was pulled close to a year ago amid stock shortages.

It follows record sales of Volkswagen GTI and Golf R performance cars in 2023 – up 264 per cent on the prior year to 5499 deliveries – which has made Australia the number-one market globally for the T-Roc R and Tiguan R performance SUVs.

Just 37 Golf Rs were delivered in Australia in the first half of 2023, but as severe component shortages that throttled production early in the year eased, 309 examples were delivered in the second half of the year.

A batch of 50 Golf R 20 Years special editions were made available mid last year, priced from $77,490 plus on-road costs – $8500 more than the regular model at the time – but they sold out within 30 minutes of going on sale online.

Volkswagen Australia says “next deliveries [of the Golf R are] expected from June 2024”.

It is now priced from $70,590 plus on-road costs, $3600 more than when orders were paused in February 2023 due to a series of price rises – some accompanied by extra equipment – last year.

The top-selling Volkswagen performance car in 2023 was the Tiguan R, with 2227 deliveries – up from 284 in 2022 – buoyed by improved stock.

Production of the Tiguan R came to an end in recent weeks, though VW Australia says it is stockpiling vehicles to last until the second half of this year.

In second place last year was the T-Roc R with 1846 sales – triple the 566 deliveries reported in 2022 – ahead of the Golf GTI with 693 deliveries (up from 370 in 2022), and the Polo GTI with 387 sales (up from 139 in 2022), all thanks to improved supply from the factories overseas.

Due in April 2024 is the large Touareg R plug-in hybrid performance SUV, for which VW Australia says it has received 500 expressions of interest since the price – $129,990 plus on-road costs – was announced in December 2023.