Will the new Mk7 see a resurgence in GTi sales?

[monkeyhanger]

Its apparent that GTi sales are a far cry from the glory days of the Mk4 which sold over 17,000 units in 1999. 

The MK4 GTI was a bit of a joke, "GTI" became a trim level - you had the choice of 3 engines: 2.0 Petrol with 115PS (same as the new FSI 1.6 out at the time), 125PS unturboed 1.8 petrol and 150PS turboed 1.8 petrol, before the decent 180PS 25th anniversary came out.

[Gung-Ho]

Its apparent that GTi sales are a far cry from the glory days of the Mk4 which sold over 17,000 units in 1999. 

The MK4 GTI was a bit of a joke, "GTI" became a trim level - you had the choice of 3 engines: 2.0 Petrol with 115PS (same as the new FSI 1.6 out at the time), 125PS unturboed 1.8 petrol and 150PS turboed 1.8 petrol, before the decent 180PS 25th anniversary came out.

I couldn't agree more. Without upsetting the Mk4 owners, the 4 was a real 'Dud'! Back then the GTi was more like a 'fashion accessory'... a 'must-have'.... a bit like an IPhone I suppose.  I remember virtually every other neighbour on my street owning one.

Unfortunately times has changed  & fashion has moved on. "Cross-overs" seem to be the new rage these days & pseudo 4x4's with high driving positions.  My dealer even went so far as to say that the new GTi would probably account for less than 1% of new Golf sales in their particular dealership.

That's not a bad thing though.  It's a bit like women & their outfits. No woman wants to be seen out at a party wearing the same frock as someone else!!! 

[matchboy]

The less they sell, the better we'll all look!  Having an 'exclusive' car is a good thing - nothing worse than seeing your car drive past you again and again and again 

[JoeGTI]

This is one of the reasons I go for the GTI/D. It's got a certain exclusivity factor, it's a fairly unique car on the roads... despite the fact that a lot of my mates will say - "but it's just another Golf???"

[monkeyhanger]

Low numbers and desirability should keep the resale values high.

[Gung-Ho]

Just out of curiosity, how many GTi/ GTD's do you expect VW to sell this year here in the UK?

I expect we represent only a small minority of GTi/D owners in the country, but there's what?....30 something orders on here ready.

As an 'educated guess' I would say a couple of hundred or would that be too optimistic?

[matchboy]

The question is therefore, how many VW dealerships are there in the UK - because they will be allocated (I'm guessing) one a month/every 2 months - which you would imagine they will sell - then we can work out how many cars there will be.  I think it will be very rare to see one in the first 6 months at least.

[monkeyhanger]

I think there are somewhere in the region of 400 VW dealerships in the UK, so maybe 3500 each of GTD/GTI in 2013 (assuming the bigger dealerships get 2 a month and half of them are big, and assuming there is a separate allocation for GTD and GTI of the same amount). 7500 per full year of each? When the Scirocco first came out and was strictly allocated, I was told about 8000 a year were being made for the UK.

[Gryzor]

My dealer said they generally have a GTI allocation of around 8 or 9 cars a year.

[matchboy]

sounds about right then.  well hopefully they'll sell less and then the only ones you'll see on the roads are ours!