Damn car nazis!!

"F^&*$ng Germans... Nothing changes..." :)

Don't curse out the Germans, Alex. It was an AMERICAN team that likely nixed the Scirocco for the US market. Of course, it's the same brains that think Americans will buy a $100,000+ VW. They're quite mad, you know.
Personally (and as a four-time VW owner), I'd take the Scirocco ANY day over the R32. Leave the hot-rodding of a Golf (uh, "Rabbit") to the aftermarket guys.

Lol :P

Well the US has Cars guys like me in the Netherlands Never will se eunless i import one xD

So dont cry guys :P

it sucks but i like us cars to that ill have to import to!!

Talking about Import !!

Japans has great cars o__0 that the dutch marktet will only see by import xD

Ssooo........... tough luck guys :P

They are not car Nazis.. and he was lying when he says the Scirocco doesn't have room due to the GTi and R32.. .it's because everyone knows our economy is going to crap so they don't have faith in our short term economic strength.

Figures, they leave us to pick from their lesser quality models. Ever looked at Ford and GM's overseas models? Wow, they are totally different. Bring some of it home and maybe people would start buying them again.

Maybe VW is worried American car buyers would whine about it being too small and not having enough horsepower.

Maybe they're right.

And VW stays down near the bottom of the list of companies with cool affordable cars... in NA at least.

How can you cannibalize sales of cars that already aren't selling?

@Albert:

Do you guys not have the xD? And do you actually want it?

dammit. Looks nice too.

I lost every faith in VW. They made some of the best vehicle like Lambo or Buggatti, but main cash cow the VW are tainted with quality and mechanical issues.

my 00 POS JETTA.

great news. you know what would be better? no vws in the us at all.

Real great news, would be if VW packed it in altogether from North America... we always get gypped.

The REAL problem has nothing to do with the article and any of the silly statements made by commenters. The real problem is that VW can't afford to sell the car in the US for what it costs them to make it in Germany. Ie they'd lose money on every car. It's becoming an ever larger problem as the bottom falls out of the US dollar. It becomes worthwhile to EXPORT from the US (and this might help our trade deficit), but it's going to kill importers. Mercedes and BMW should do ok, and Audi to a lesser extent because they're perceived as "luxury" cars. You can jack up the price on them to some extent and the people who buy a Merc will still buy it. (Exclusivity.) But, as someone pointed out, people don't buy $100k VWs. Basically, the Germans are victims of the decision to create the European Currency.

What a bummer for VW dealers and car mechanics. VW makes some of the most unreliable cars in the civilized world. Both are going to loose a lot of revenue from not being able to fix these surely pathetic machines. Maybe Tom's can tell us what equally unreliable Benz the USA won't be getting. The car does look dang hot though.

jomo:

I agree completely. I know VW would very willingly build that car here at a profit, but German auto unions are so stringent that they would kill off their reputation and sales abroad before they let a single factory open elsewhere. Hell it does not even matter if a factory wouldn't be closed in Germany. France is much the same: when Renault wanted to open a new plant in China a few years ago, a French governor went on a hunger strike (literally to the point of near death) until Renault agreed to open the plant in France. Nevermind that the French plant in his district was actually going to be EXPANDED, not closed or even reduced, the factory was just going to be expanded and another one opened to meet demand elsewhere.

America will miss out on lots of European cars soon as Europe continues its hissy-fit attitude towards its companies opening elsewhere. The reason the Euro is so high against the dollar is not Europe's wonderful economy either: its nearly 20 years behind the US in terms of development according to multiple sources.

The reason the dollar is so weak is the price of oil: if you look back to 2002-2003, before the massive climb in oil prices, the dollar and Euro were neck and neck (and the Euro was the primary currency of far more countries with a combined total far more people back then too). But as the price of oil rose, so did the value of the dollar fall. Statistically speaking, the trade deficit isn't any real amount larger than it was in 2003 when we do not account for core commodity prices (food and energy). Food prices have risen slightly in the past few years but the US is still an exporter there, so only energy is left as a culprit. Oil is not just used for cars in the US: it's also the primary source of electricity after coal.

Again, go back and watch the dollar fall from 2003 to now: its falling in line with the price of energy rising. Thats because above all else, core commodities determine the value of a currency. If food and energy were suddenly 10 times more expensive in dollars just overnight, it would not matter a bit if in the same time the US began exporting more cars and stopped importing cars at all. People don't eat cars and cars do not run without energy.

The Us is dependent on Oil for its energy, Europe and other areas in the world are different though. France gets over half its electricity from nuclear power: the price of Uranium is quite stable. Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Italy mainly are powered by coal and renewables. Still, their total energy consumption is affected by one thing and one thing alone: cars. In America, you NEED a car to get around. The average commute is now two hours long, and the average distance several dozen miles from where people work.

Compare that to European nations, Japan and China, where the vast majority (nearly 4/5ths in some cases) live in densly populated cities, in which public transportation and walking are viable methods of getting around. Even though gas is $7 a gallon in Europe, people are not bothered by it because they walk to work or ride the train (and don't give me BS about how cities cause crime: that phenominon in the US was caused by the Crack Epidemic, and most of my example nations have very safe cities in terms of number of crimes per amount of people).

Hence the ultimate reason for the weakness in the dollar versus the Euro: if gas goes up in price in America, it directly effects American's daily lives and purchases. Here, to go to Wal-Mart, then Best Buy then dinner, you will probably drive. In Europe or Japan or even China, to go grocery shopping then to the electronics store then to a resteraunt, you can walk. So if gas goes up a $1, who cares?

It's sad then that some many people here wish to see American's buy more "American" trucks and SUVs for various dumb reasons from "Buy American" to "our lack of logic tells us they are safer." Nevermind that I can show you that energy prices are causing a weakness in the dollar, not net exports, and that the Ford Excursion (now that its production life is over) has had its final fatality ratio calculated and its been proven you have a greater chance of injury in it than a Mini-Cooper, some people hold onto those ideals.

Little do you know that buying a fuel-inefficient car does more damage to America than buying an import. So its even more sad that a car like the Scirocco, a small, fuel efficient vehicle (at least far more efficient than most American's rides) won't be exported here because of the SUV's and trucks of our roads, and our exceptionally long commutes and attachments to our cars as places we live our lives.

I have never liked Europe, they do many, many things wrong there in my opinion. But they at least (maybe inadvertedly or without their own knowing) have realized that nothing can hurt them more than core prices rising. The fewer of a nessecary good your dollar buys, the less that dollar will be worth altogether against a currency which still buys as much for someone else. And just to reinterate, the Euro has held up so well because Oil prices rising does not affect it's consumers as badly, and they still make their usual purchases regardless of the price of gasoline. In America, the same is not true.

Oh and to the car itself: another reason is that American consumers may have not just realized how good a hatchback can be yet. It does are the car-like things that a daily commuter/driver needs to do, plus has massive cargo space to handle those occasional bringing-home-of-TV/furniture/bigger-than-truck-stuff.

Allen, you've heard that man can actually walk some distances (even outdoors)? You think that is something Europeans do wrong? Or is it that they don't attack rest of the world with over sized manhood extensions just to drive their own economy? Little things make little men angry and that is what all Allisons are all about. That is why we don't get Scirocco (it can't fit all-american-muscle - stupidity)... oh, and the economy thing... lets try to do something to it... vote someone with IQ over peanut...

@Como & Allen:

Excellent posts! It is a shame that the car will not be sold here in the States. I personally love the utility of a hatchback and will narrow my choices to either a Mazda 3, VW Rabbit , or new Saturn Astra now.

This is lousy news, as for VW's built elsewhere we get plenty of them from Mexico and they suck, they are very poorly built unreliable rolling heaps of garbage, if I were to buy a VW I would make sure that it was actually an Import, and that it didn't come from Mexico. VW's built in Mexico = junk, VW's built elsewhere = fairly reliable. go figure.

As for the GTI and the R32 I wouldn't be caught dead in either, and yet this car caught my attention, enough that I would have considered it in the mix of cars I have looked at and liked, tC (not enough leg room) Mazdaspeed 3 (not enough legroom) 350z (don't trust Nissan due to current car, and crap hanging down into the foot well over the pedals kept tangling my with my foot), WRX or WRX STi (expensive), Evo X (expensive), Lexus IS (expensive), Ford Mustang (flabby handling)

anyways my Ideal car would have 43" of front leg room, 225~350 hp, a nice interior, it would look cool, get around 20/28, it would handle nicely and be RWD or AWD and cost around $25,000. I still haven't found it but I keep looking based on the theory that eventually I will find a car that I really love.

Thank God!!!

It alot nicer looking than the original one that came out many years ago. It would be nice to see it imported to the USA. It would also be nice to see the 200 mpg concept vehicle made and brought to the USA. I guess they like to keep the good stuff to themselves. :( Japanese car makers do the same thing. :(

It would be neat to see a rabbit version of the Jaguar hood orniment for the VW Rabbit. :-D

Disappointing, yes, surprising, no. Most small sporty cars simply don't sell well in the US market. Sure, there is a market segment that knows how great they are, but we can only buy so many of them. As a proud owner of an '07 GTI, I am sure this Scirocco would be fantastic, but I'm simply won't be in the market for another new car.

@Allen: A few years ago, I made a trip to Home Depot with my previous '98 Saturn SC2, and bought a ladder. When I came out of the store, the guy in the next spot was loading some 2x4's in the back of his hulking F250. He took one look at me, and laughed at how dumb I must be. I folded the rear seat, folded the front passenger seat, slid the ladder in the trunk, and closed the lid. I drove off while he was still tying down the lumber hanging over the bed of his pickup... :D

Any word on if the Scirocco will be available in Canada? We currently do have a bit of a differnet lineup of VW's available to us than the USA currently does (City Golf, City Jetta for example). I used to have an 87 Scirocco 16V and would love to be able to get another Scirocco someday.

@John Doo:

You might want to re-read my post: in it I say that its a good thing that Europeans walk, not a bad thing. I quite expressedly state that its the reason the Euro has surpassed the dollar, and that the prerequisite of driving a car in America is our problem.

I ask that you retract your statements and explain yourself. Why and how did you come to your conclusions based upon my post? I am quite against the use of oversized vehicles, SUVs in particular as I feel that they not only use more than enough of fuel and maintenance but that most American commuters would actually get far more use and utility out of a more fuel efficient hatch-back. The few American's that do actually need the capabilities of those vehicles are in the incredible minority.

Really too bad about th Scirocco.

It looks like a real tight car.

But then again... if it was built in Mexico... they might as well not build any cars at all, because those vehicles are complete junk.

LOL great story Mike about the F250 driver.

I don't know what everyone is talking about with the cars made in Mexico. I have an 06 GLI and its great. Maybe you are talking about the 2.5, which is complete garbage. The 2.0T engine is made in Germany and sent to Mexico for assembly. Not that I support the idea of using Mexico to make a German car.

it looks like a Honda Civic anyway.

This looks like a new Rabbit/Golf. The original, MK1, Scirocco is still a great looking car. Why couldn't they put out a proper 2+2 coupe successor to that car?

(Yes...I know...2+2 coupes aren't practical, but then they should call it something else...)