SLXS — Lifestyle & TravelVolkswagen Phases Out The Citi Golf
Even though the Citi Golf never changed shape in all it’s time, it still seemed to just work. Most often associated with students, the Citi Golf was for a carefree lifestyle and ran pretty easily, well most of the time.
Whether cruising around the city or going on road trips, Citi has been there for everyone. Now Volkswagen are phasing it out after 25 years, and 377484 units. I loved this piece from David Mosely, which sums up the car perfectly:
Luckily they seem to run forever and future young drivers will still be able to experience the stutteringly famous Citi staccato choke start, the numerous and repeated break-ins, the earthy mould smell of the cloth interior that appears over time no matter how many sachets of Sta-Soft you plant inside the car and, of course, the complete and utter malfunction of all the windows until you’re driving around in a steamy sarcophagus or an invigorating wind tunnel (depending on whether the window mechanics expire while rolled up or down).
Ah the choke start! A classic really. And here is some official news from Business Day:
VOLKSWAGEN SA announced yesterday it had formally stopped producing Citi Golfs after assembling the iconic car at its plant in Port Elizabeth for 25 years.
David Powels, MD of Volkswagen , said the car maker intended to reveal the Citi Golf’s replacement in February .
Until August this year, SA was the only country that manufactured Citi Golfs, which began production at Uitenhage in 1984. Powels said new technology, rapidly evolving consumer needs and new trends in the vehicle industry had forced the company to finally “write the last chapter” on the Citi Golf.
He said it was “no longer commercially viable” to produce the historic car at its Uitenhage assembly plant as it lacked economies of scale, essential for both vehicle manufacturers and parts suppliers.
Powels said Citi Golf owners would continue receiving support and service .
He confirmed that no job losses had resulted from the stoppage . A small number of parts suppliers, which had other component supply contracts with Volkswagen and other original equipment manufacturers would be affected, he said.
I just can’t imagine the future students arriving at school/college in anything but a Citi Golf…It’s also the first car you’ll pull over as a cop. Packed full of students, you’re sure to find something wrong in a Citi!
Hmmmm…reefer.
4 Comments on “Volkswagen Phases Out The Citi Golf”
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I love how they pretend production is being stopped due to lack of economies of scale.
The Citi golf is still one of the country’s best sellers today, and if we consider how long they have been producing the car, manufacturing costs must be very low.
I’m pretty sure they just want to replace it with something more expensive.
Not that I’d be seen dead driiving one though.
Ja the baseline price is R87000 I think (I’ve just posted it somewhere), I wonder what the new baseline price is going to be for the replacement? R100000+?
It’s not easy getting on the road (Other than scooters) as a student anymore! I’ve always wondered though, why are cheap cars generally ugly? I mean surely someone can design a car that looks awesome, for a good price.
The cheap cars all generally appear to have absolutely no design thought in them. There are hundreds of back yard designers that could do better jobs on many of these entry level cars, that look like sketches gone wrong.
The Bomber and the Viper come to mind! What rad cars!
My money is on the VW Fox.