VW South Africa has announced that the local launch of the Golf 8 GTI has been delayed to the third quarter of 2021.
This follows the first units of the fast hatchback arriving in South Africa this month.
“The Volkswagen Group has been impacted by the global shortage of the semiconductor chips and all vehicles built on the MQB platform have been affected,” said Steffen Knapp, Head of the VW Passenger Car brand.
“For this reason, the launch of the Golf 8 GTI in South Africa will now move to the third quarter.”
Knapp said they are working closely with their German counterparts to “ensure that we get as many Golf 8 GTI units for the local market as possible”.
“A few Golf 8 GTI units started arriving in the country from mid-April. These units will be stockpiled until we have enough vehicles for the launch at the beginning of the third quarter.”
The company said its plan for the local launch of the VW Golf 8 GTI will include a digital premiere and “countrywide customer events”.
This will allow enthusiasts to be among the first to experience the new Golf GTI, it added.
VW said the Golf 8 GTI is one of their highly-anticipated vehicle launches this year, and South Africa is one of the biggest Golf GTI markets outside of Europe.
“The Golf 7 GTI sold over 14,000 units since its launch in South Africa in July 2013. The Golf was also the best-selling model range in the A Hatch segment in South Africa last year, with a 29.1% segment share.”
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