Officially Official: VW changes Rabbit back to Golf

March 31 2009 by in cars |No Comments

Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Hatchbacks, Volkswagen

Volkswagen Golf VI – Click above for high-res image gallery

Anyone itching to bring home a brand new Volkswagen Rabbit had better act fast. As expected, VeeDub has just confirmed that 2009 will be the last year that the American version of the automaker’s popular hatchback will be called the Rabbit. The renamed 2010 Golf will be shown at next month’s New York Auto Show in production form with an expected sale date here in the States sometime this fall.

Says Mark Barnes, COO, Volkswagen of America, “The Golf is an iconic nameplate for the Volkswagen Brand and it is known throughout the world. The Golf is Volkswagen’s best selling global nameplate with more than 26 million units sold in over 120 countries. Making the change back to Golf is an important step in realigning with our global heritage.”

We couldn’t agree more, which is why we were all left scratching our heads back in 2006 when the German automaker chose to reintroduce the Rabbit name in America for the fifth-gen Golf in the first place. Oh well, that was a mistake that the automaker can easily rectify. Read the official press release after the break.

Gallery: Volkswagen Golf VI