The Volkswagen Golf could be headed back to Mexican production. Though VW is in the middle of threats to close factories in Germany for the first time, production of its hatchback could be headed back to North America for the first time since 2021. The reasons? A mix of cost-cutting and capacity restrictions.
2025 Volkswagen Golf GTI
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Volkswagen has made the Golf for Europe in Wolfsburg, Germany, for decades. While it has been built at other plants for other countries, Euro Golfs have all come from Germany. A new report from German newspaper Handelsblatt says that Volkswagen is looking to move it out of Germany to the automaker’s plant in Mexico. A site that last built the Golf in 2021, and never built them for export to Germany.
Cutting Costs And Freeing Space Could Relocate Golf Production
VW is looking to cut costs, and that even applies to its most iconic model. The Golf is still a big seller – the automaker already had plans to overflow production to Poland, the report said – but in a sea of crossovers, its sales aren’t what they once were. Combine sliding sales with high German labor costs, and you have a recipe for a move. Building the Golf in Mexico will cost more in shipping, but it could save VW cash all the same.
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More importantly, it would free up space in Wolfsburg alongside Tiguan production for VW to build the Tayron, the replacement for the seven-seat long-wheelbase Tiguan. The higher margins of a crossover make the economics work on that one. Crucially, the move could potentially help VW’s relationship with the union IG Metall. The union still likely won’t be happy to lose the Golf, but a new model would soothe the pain, and Volkswagen could do with something going its way.
Electric Golf Likely To Stay At Wolfsburg
Of course, the other question is, which Golf would move? The gas-powered Golf is expected to stick around for as long as 10 years, long after the electric model enters production. The ID.Golf is anticipated to launch in 2028 and that EV is marked for Wolfsburg. Once that model is in full swing, moving the gas model to Mexico suddenly makes even more sense. Volkswagen had moved it there in 2014 but ended production at the Puebla plant in Mexico to build the Taos.
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Does Mexican production mean the Golf returns to the US? The report didn’t cover that, but certainly reducing costs would make it more appealing to import. That, of course, assumes VW has enough space at Puebla to build a supply. And that in 2028 we aren’t still looking at 25 percent tariffs from vehicles imported from Mexico to the US, as threatened by President-elect Donald Trump.
Discussions were set to take place last month, the report said. They have been pushed back because of strike actions and negotiations in Germany.
Source:
Handelsblatt
via
Carscoops
