Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) made a big splash when they announced the CKD Golf R in August last year, as the first country to locally assemble the spruced-up hatchback outside of Germany. But ever since then, it’s been radio silence from the German brand on the availability of the car, with the official website still listing an estimated pricing of between RM330,000 to RM350,000.
The company has now given an update on the situation. When asked by AutoBuzz.my during the press conference at the launch of the all-new Volkswagen Touareg R-Line, VPCM Managing Director, Denyu Bostandzhiev, said that the CKD Golf R will soon begin deliveries “in a couple of weeks”.
Bostandzhiev explained that the hold-up was due to some technical issues with the government during the homologation process. The issue relates to the fact that the Golf R is the first all-wheel drive variant of the hatchback to be locally-assembled; previous locally assembled Golf models were all front-wheel drive only.
However, the issue has since been resolved, and the official pricing will be announced “in a couple of weeks”, with deliveries to begin soon after.
As announced in August last year, the locally assembled Volkswagen Golf R will come with a couple of upgrades over the previous fully imported model, most notably the R Performance Pack that now comes as standard, consisting of the Akrapovic exhaust system, an elaborate roof spoiler, new lightweight 19-inch ‘Estoril’ wheels, as well as the ‘Drift’ and ‘Special’ driving modes – the former lets you unleash your inner child through silly tyre-burning sideways action, while the latter designed for maximum traction on bumpy backroads.
Underneath the bonnet lies the same EA888 evo4 3.0-litre TSI turbocharged inline-four engine as before, making 320 hp and 400 Nm of torque. Paired to the seven-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission and the marque’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system, the Volkswagen Golf R is capable of a 4.8-second century sprint, onward to a top speed of 250 km/h.
Aside from the Golf R, VPCM said during the event today that a special 50-year anniversary edition for the Golf GTI will also be making its debut here in Malaysia soon.
