Gol will not be manufactured in Brazil after 41 years and will be discontinued – Economy

One of the biggest icons Volkswagen along with beetle it’s at combi kettleOh Goal Its production in Brazil will cease at the end of next year. In addition to the two historic Volkswagen models, the Gol is also off the line for not being able to keep up with the renovations demanded by the auto market and new laws that require safer, less polluting cars.

The model produced in Brazil 41 years ago in different versions will be replaced, from 2023, by the Polo Track, a different version of the current Polo that will become the brand’s (cheapest) entry-level car. In its path, it has been the sales leader for nearly 30 years and the most exported model by the manufacturer.

Today, Gol costs from R$ 67.8 thousand to R$ 83.4 thousand, and most sales are directed to fleet owners and rental companies. “New laws require increasingly safer cars and lower CO2 emissions,” says Volkswagen Latin America president, Pablo DC.

One of the equipment that will become mandatory in all new cars, for example, is the stability control system (ESC). Kombi got off the line because he couldn’t receive the airbags. The end of production of the model has already been announced by the market, but the confirmation and the date were confirmed on Friday, 5, by Di Si while presenting the brand’s new investment plan in the region, worth R$7 billion between 2022 and 2026.

However, the company is not telling whether it will be able to use the Gol name for another model of the new family starting with the Polo Track, to be produced at the plant in Taubaté (SP), where Gol and Voyage make today’s sedan.

From January to October, 51,035 units of the Juul were sold, a volume that puts it eighth among the best-selling cars in the country and the best by Volkswagen in the rankings. Next comes the T-Cross, with 51,008 units.

landing part

The entry-level compact car segment is one of the segments that has lost the bulk of sales in the Brazilian market in recent years. Partly because most companies stopped launching products in this segment, due to their low profitability, and began to focus primarily on sport utility vehicles (SUVs), today they are the leaders in sales.

Volkswagen itself launched five SUVs in the previous investment cycle, also worth R$7 billion, two of which – the Nivus and T-Cross – are produced in Brazil and Taos in Argentina.

“It’s true that consumer tastes are moving more towards SUVs, and that doesn’t mean the entry-level segment will disappear,” says DC.

The segment, which generated a much greater financial return for manufacturers, achieved sales of 540,900 units this year (as of October), which is equivalent to 42.4% of the total cars sold in the country, and the entry segment sold 178.4 thousand units, or 14% of the total.