Motor Trend named the Golf line-up its 2015 Car of the Year: one of several honors its earned recently.
Volkswagen’s efforts to bolster sales in the U.S. may have just gotten the high-profile shot in the arm needed to offset its nearly two year trend of falling sales in the U.S.: the Golf was named 2015 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
The award was actually given to the entire Golf line-up, which started with the GTI that debuted this spring and was followed by the Golf 1.8T, Golf TDI Clean Diesel, and e-Golf models.
VW’s seen sales drop every monthly for some time in the U.S. Its total sales in 2013 were down 6.9% and through October the company’s sales are off 12.2%, although GTI sales are up nearly 23% for the year.
The honor is just one of several the Golf has pocketed in recent weeks. It was named the Green Car Reports “Best Car to Buy 2015” and Yahoo’s Car of the Year as well as winning the first-ever “Cheap Speed Challenge” from Cars.com, MotorWeek and USA Today. It’s also under consideration for the North American Car of the Year award given out during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January.
“VW floored our judges by reimagining the seventh generation Golf for nearly every need and want,” said Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief Ed Loh. “From the value-laden Golf 1.8T and high-MPG Golf TDI to the legendary hot hatch GTI and all-electric e-Golf, there truly is a Golf for everyone.”
The magazine noted the company’s best-selling model is bigger, lighter, more fuel-efficient, and even more versatile than the previous Golf model. It also pointed out the advantages of the Golf’s new Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) architecture allows for a lot of flexibility.
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It also highlighted the family’s superior fuel economy and availability of driver assistance technologies. The lineup will be rounded out in early 2015 with the all-new 292-horsepower, all-wheel-drive Golf R and the Golf SportWagen range.
(Click Herefor details about Honda recalling another 170K vehicles with Takata airbags.)
“With a starting price of $17,995 (plus $820 destination and handling) for the two-door Golf S model, the 2015 Golf family offers advances in interior refinement, exterior styling, and a wealth of new equipment at even the lowest trim lines; the result is truly a Golf for everyone,” the magazine said in a statement.
(To see why Mercedes-Benz has the most satisfied shoppers, Click Here.)
Motor Trend picks 23 vehicles for judging on a three courses at an automotive test center. Those are whittled down to 10 finalists, which were:
- Audi A3
- BMW 2 Series
- Ford Mustang
- Honda Fit
- Hyundai Genesis
- Kia Sedona
- Lexus RC
- Maserati Ghibli
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The 10 finalists are driven on a real-world road course and evaluated on six criteria: Design Advancement, Engineering Excellence, Efficiency, Safety, Value and Performance of Intended Function.
While the MK VII Golf is a nice car, I don’t find it as desirable as the MK 6. It is a little bigger but the interior and exterior design leaves a lot to be desired IME having spent considerable time in both.
The fact that VW is offering the MK VII with smaller turbo engines in many markets is useful, though they don’t offer the 1.4L T in the U.S. at this time. The Diesel models have always been excellent vehicles but I don’t find the MK VII version superior to the MK VI model. The E-Golf is fine if you desire an EV though these are impractical for 99+ percent of the world.
VW is being forced to up the 2.0L T power output as the competition from many brands are currently selling higher powered 2.0L Turbo engines.
All the accolades in the world however won’t fix product quality control issues nor an unpleasant ownership experience, which seems to be the reason why VW loses so many customers after the first sale.