Hello Michael.
The Canadian market introduction of the Golf “R” is set for spring of 2012. This has always been the date, and based on current information there is no reason to expect any delays. As a long-time Golf/Rabbit/GTI fan, I certainly identify with your enthusiasm (my first car was a ’76 Rabbit…one of the last with the Zenith carb).
Ordinarily, we do not release information about cars that are coming to our market so far in advance, however with the “R”, we have had so much interest that a press release was felt to be in order to ensure Canadian customers that a version of this car would indeed be available in our market.
What we can discuss is:
· It will be available in the four door model only, and only available with a six-speed manual transmission
· It will be based upon the European-spec version of the vehicle, and will share the 2.0L TSFI engine and all-wheel drive. Exact horsepower/torque figures are still pending
· There will be a (limited) choice of exterior colours
· There will likely be no options…so I hope that you like how the factory will spec them!
We are presently still in the process of hammering out the exact details with the factory on spec/availability/price. Rest assure that once we have details, we will release them to the public.
Based upon the overwhelming response I have received to date (and I’m not normally the one that hears about this kind of activity), I do know that most (if not all) of our Dealers are already taking orders for the vehicle. They will, however, not have much more detail for you other than what I have shared today.
I hope that this helps clear the air a bit, and I certainly hope that you can wait until next year at around this time.
Mine will be blue, by the way.
Have a great day, and drive safely.
Thomas Tetzlaff
Manager, Public Relations
Volkswagen Canada
Thomas.Tetzlaff@vw.ca