Volkswagen to Axe the Two-door Golf GTI: Report

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

It’s a sad day for Volkswagen Golf GTI purists and fanboys. The GTI — one of autodom’s quintessential hot hatches — will lose its two-door variant in the U.S. as the scandal-rocked automaker jettisons low-volume offerings.

A very familiar face and name broke the story at Jalopnik after a Volkswagen product manager mentioned the cancellation during the company’s Golf Alltrack media test drive.

When Mark Baruth (a.k.a. Bark M) asked about pricing on 2017 GTI two-doors, Megan Garbis, Golf product manager at Volkswagen of America, stated that production of that model would end in two weeks.

That leaves a very short 2017 model year run for the two-door GTI. While we don’t have sales figures for specific GTI variants, overall sales of the model reached a high point in the U.S. last year. Increased demand apparently didn’t translate into more sales of the two-door model.

Garbis said that customers and dealers overwhelmingly ask for the four-door GTI. The automaker’s new U.S. strategy is to give customers what they demand most (and not a thing more, it would seem), so the two-door, as traditional as it is, needs to exit stage left. The order process for a four-door GTI has reportedly been streamlined.

“We’ve reduced the complexity, which allows the customer to configure the GTI he or she wants online and go to the dealership and pick it up today,” Garbis said.

With crossovers overtaking family sedans in sales and two-door coupes slowly disappearing from the automotive landscape, it seems practicality truly rules the day.

[Image: Volkswagen of America]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Jerome10 Jerome10 on Sep 13, 2016

    Well, as a previous 2 door purchased-new GTI owner and someone (insanely after all this VW garbage?) still interested in possibly grabbing another one in the near future.... I will not be buying one with this news. Sorry, a "sporty" car, even a sporty hatch based on a pedestrian European model really needs a 2 door option. And 4 doors only....no thanks. That should about do it for me and my VW ownership.

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    • DevilsRotary86 DevilsRotary86 on Sep 14, 2016

      For what it's worth I am with you. It's a personal quirk of mine. I will not buy any car with 4 doors. Mr Zhivago is right, VW doesn't care. But on the flip side I won't give my money to a company that doesn't sell what I want.

  • Jim brewer Jim brewer on Sep 13, 2016

    Heard rumors that two doors were considerably more expensive to insure than four doors. True? If so, that may explain things, and the change wouldn't mean a blessed thing.

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    • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Sep 14, 2016

      @Drzhivago138 My 95 T-Bird LX with the 4.6 V8 costs less to insure than a comparable Mustang GT or V8 F-Body of the era.

  • Tedward Tedward on Sep 14, 2016

    I love the gti, own one, and I like choice in the market. Hell, I really like every version of the golf. I still think this needed to happen. Vw sells a ridiculous number of variants of this car, and no one had been buying the two door for quite some time. Besides, go get an actual sports car if you want two door compromises! The gti isn't that, it's a short gt/family car. Fwiw the trim level changes make sense to me. Dcc is a bit silly when faced with just how comfortable the gti is already, the performance pack is wanted by everyone, and the lighting package is a must buy. My mother in law just bought one last week (she realky liked ours) and se, lighting + pp were her musts. She ended up with an autobahn because of inventory discounts, but I made sure she didn't have dcc or driving assist on the car before I "approved". So...shrug to the trim changes.

    • ImAbeFroman ImAbeFroman on Apr 03, 2019

      You made a bad decision for your mother-in-law. Drivers Assist and DCC are amazing. Then again, she's your mother-in-law so maybe that was a good choice, because, insert mother-in-law joke.

  • Stanczyk Stanczyk on Sep 14, 2016

    >A four door G body Cutlass or Regal looked all sorts of wrong, that car really shined in two door form.> it's correct statement.. and the same thing is going for Hot-hachtes > they are just "hot-ter" in 2-door option .. But this trend is going the wrong way > new generations of Ford Focus ST/RS or Opel Astra GTC or Renault Clio/Megane RS .. or Merc CLA-hatch .. etc .. are only in 4-door form configuration ..) I think they could afford engineering-costs of 2-door versions for Golf because , there will be few variants like GTI- and R -model .. and probably some WRC_editions .. (the same thing with Focus ST/RS ..)..

    • Drzhivago138 Drzhivago138 on Sep 14, 2016

      I agree that the G-bodies looked nicer as coupes, but a Malibu, Bonneville Model G, Regal, or Cutlass Supreme sedan looked fine too. Not awesome or desirable, but not "all sorts of wrong" either.

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