- Volkswagen Group’s US CEO said, Golf is very ‘important’ to the brand despite low sales.
- VW sold roughly 10,000 Golfs last year in the United States.
- The CEO also said hatchbacks and sedans offer customers who don’t want a crossover ‘something different.
It would be easy to write off Volkswagen as just another automaker swept up in the SUV craze. After all, nearly 80 percent of VW’s US sales volume in 2025 came from crossovers, with the full-size Atlas as the top seller by volume. But its US CEO wants you to know that the Golf GTI and Golf R hatchbacks will play an important role for the foreseeable future. And yes, he sung the humble Jetta’s praises, too.
Speaking to assembled media during a roundtable discussion at the 2026 New York International Auto Show, Volkswagen Group of America CEO Kjell Gruner explained that the Golf’s importance goes beyond sales numbers. He said:
‘Combined, the Golf made 10,000 units roughly last year in the US. So you could argue it’s not that important. [But it’s] very important, from just what the brand stands for, just from smiles per mile, perspective and heartbeat.’
“Every brand needs these brand icons, the brand shapers,” Gruner said of the Golf GTI and Golf R hot hatchbacks. “That’s both R [and] GTI, but that’s also the ID.Buzz,” he specified, mentioning VW’s electric van which skips the 2026 model year stateside.
Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
In addition to a symbolic one, Gruner stressed that hatchbacks and sedans have a practical role to play in the marketplace. “It’s also then for people who want something different, don’t want the SUV, like the better gas mileage you get, don’t need all-wheel drive,” he said.
Volkswagen still moved some 54,291 Jetta sedans in 2025, though that number fell 43.5 percent from the year prior. While the humble sedan can’t match the Atlas or Tiguan’s sales totals, it’s roughly equal to the compact Taos crossover’s annual volume. “The Jetta has a very good sales volume,” praised VW’s CEO.
While SUVs may be Volkswagen’s breadwinners and the bulk of its product offerings, don’t think for a second that the Wolfsburg-based brand is walking away from the hatchbacks and sedans that once defined it.
“You can’t just do SUVs, at least we can’t. We don’t want to,” he concluded. “So that’s always going to be there for the variety, for the brand… with a compact car, you can do things that you just can’t do with an SUV.”
Motor1’s Take: SUVs and crossovers aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution, and it’s refreshing to hear an automaker acknowledge that reality. While VW removed the regular Golf from its US lineup a few years back, it’s refreshing to hear it reaffirm a commitment to both performance-focused hot hatchbacks as well as no-nonsense sedans.
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