Stiff competition for the Mk7 Golf GTI - Second Edition

[Ignoramus]

Mk7 GTI has been revealed - 2014 Volkswagen Golf GTI: Specifications And Features Revealed | Reviews | Prices | Australian specifications

Output is up from 155 to 164kW at 6400rpm, and torque grows from 280 to 349Nm, available from 2500rpm.

For the first time, Volkswagen will also offer an optional factory performance pack, boosting power to 171kW.

[Whistler]

Is it stupid to consider the lack of even a space saver wheel as a deal breaker? Not thrilled at the prospects of no real backup measure on a long trip. (ie melb-syd)

No, not stupid. Been in the same boat. The answer is to do a deal on a full-size spare when you order.
I did the same with a previous car. Car the spare "thrown in" for half it's normal price before I signed up.
I just chucked it in the boot on inter-city trips.
Used it twice so was worth the $$$

[alebonau]

yep could get thrown in. and probably a good idea for intercity and drives out of town. but yeah in and around town the goo kit is probably fine. one way or the other thank goodness no run flats as they have done overseas.

[Lemonskin]

Sat Nav and leather aren't standard on the A250.
The point is that Merc don't want to offer a de-specced A250... it's not what the market wants.

True. Merc want to be seen as a higher product. They don't want to be battling the GTI at its own game.

I think they'll be successful too. There must be a lot of buyers out there who have the money but settled for a GTI or an R because there was simply nothing better that suited their style.

[alebonau]

looks like merc has embraced fixed price servicing on the a class. something I hope vw is doing on the new golf

"To ensure buyers aren't scared off by high service costs, Mercedes has a fixed price servicing deal: $1400 covers all routine servicing for the first 50,000km. A Nissan Maxima V6 sedan costs almost $2000 to service over the same period."

- See more at: Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun

looks like the new baby merc has also literally doubled dealer orders for them with article saying where they normally sell 350 cars a week this has apparently doubled with the a class !

[cktsi]

looks like merc has embraced fixed price servicing on the a class. something I hope vw is doing on the new golf

"To ensure buyers aren't scared off by high service costs, Mercedes has a fixed price servicing deal: $1400 covers all routine servicing for the first 50,000km. A Nissan Maxima V6 sedan costs almost $2000 to service over the same period."

- See more at: Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun

looks like the new baby merc has also literally doubled dealer orders for them with article saying where they normally sell 350 cars a week this has apparently doubled with the a class !

Man, the deals on the A250 look better and better all the time!

[cktsi]

True. Merc want to be seen as a higher product. They don't want to be battling the GTI at its own game.

I think they'll be successful too. There must be a lot of buyers out there who have the money but settled for a GTI or an R because there was simply nothing better that suited their style.

+1. I am with you there!

[kaktusdigital]

looks like merc has embraced fixed price servicing on the a class. something I hope vw is doing on the new golf

"To ensure buyers aren't scared off by high service costs, Mercedes has a fixed price servicing deal: $1400 covers all routine servicing for the first 50,000km. A Nissan Maxima V6 sedan costs almost $2000 to service over the same period."

- See more at: Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun

looks like the new baby merc has also literally doubled dealer orders for them with article saying where they normally sell 350 cars a week this has apparently doubled with the a class !

When enquiring, the dealership said that they service the car at either 1 year OR 25,000Km's! - so $1,400 would only cover 2 years or $700 a pop?

[elephino]

When enquiring, the dealership said that they service the car at either 1 year OR 25,000Km's! - so $1,400 would only cover 2 years or $700 a pop?

Which for those of us with higher mileage cars, isn't too bad.

[cktsi]

If 25% of Golf sales are for the GTI and half of those will choose the A250 over the GTI for the next car, I think this spells trouble for VW Australia.

The response size of this poll is now statistically significant.

VW wll need to take a good hard look at the features for price at this stage or this poll is pointing to sales doom.

[kaktusdigital]

VW wll need to take a good hard look at the features for price at this stage or this poll is pointing to sales doom.

I assume the majority of A250 buyers = Ex spec'd up GTI buyers. The 250sport has quite a few extras as standard which offers good value for money. Time will tell whether the GTI base model will sit far below the starting price of the A250. Personally I can live without pretty much all the extras that the GTI offers (maybe sunroof) so the effective pricing between the two are going to be fairly large. As some one else mentioned, it would be great to have a de-spec'd A250 sport with pricing to match.

[Dutch77]

I think it's important to remember also that all of this is still fairly subjective - only a few of us have driven the A250 already, and we can only guess as to how good (or not) the mk7 GTI/R will be.

I agree VW will need to look at sharpening the pricing a bit, but for arguments sake if they can bring in a similar specced and slightly lower priced vehicle - I'm thinking say $50k v $55k - and it's a better drive all round then I'm not that desperate for a MB badge to swap over. If the best they can do is end up at the same price AND the drive is similar then sure, the MB may very well be on my shop list.

Either way I agree the poll is becoming relevant and would seem to indicate that GTI buyers will definitely be shopping the A250 at a minimum.

[TuNeS]

I assume the majority of A250 buyers = Ex spec'd up GTI buyers. The 250sport has quite a few extras as standard which offers good value for money. Time will tell whether the GTI base model will sit far below the starting price of the A250. Personally I can live without pretty much all the extras that the GTI offers (maybe sunroof) so the effective pricing between the two are going to be fairly large. As some one else mentioned, it would be great to have a de-spec'd A250 sport with pricing to match.

Agree. If the cars were line ball, I would still be choosing the base spec Merc as you never get your money back on options. Considering the GTI is close to $40k, $10k is a lot of options to bring it up to the Merc and a lot of extra coin to lose. People just look at Redbook for value.

[Sharkie]

I've said this already, but seems to have been missed with all the pro A250 Mumbo jumbo ..... Pretty sure at $49990 a Golf R is better specced than the A250 not to mention AWD and much more powerful. Mk7 R will also bring 220kw/380NM which will put it close to the AMG A for $40k less .....

[kaktusdigital]

IPretty sure at $49990 a Golf R

Is this before the dealer delivery etc charges?

It certainly is good value for money either way considering the brochure for the A250 sport already states the exact price as its starting point.