VW R Performance Division to launch

It’s being reported that Volkswagen are to emulate Mercedes, Audi and BMW by creating a performance division – R GmbH.

I’m not sure that the reports that Volkswagen are to create a specialist division for performance cars, R GmbH, will make any difference at all to the products hitting the roads. But I’ve been known to be wrong.

VW already has a specialist division which deals with the creation of the R Models – Volkswagen Individual – so maybe this is just more about the perception of their ‘R’ cars rather than any big sea-change in direction. And VW Individual has already been busy creating R-Line versions of existing cars from the Tiguan R-Line to the Passat CC R-Line.

But hopefully the creation of a performance division that has a real public face will move things on. Perhaps we will see proper performance versions across the range rather than just a few performance orientated R cars like the Golf R and Scirocco R. It would seem a logical move.

But what we will probably get is a range of bolt-on R-Line goodies for the more prosaic cars in the VW range, and probably something akin to Mercedes AMG body kit or BMW’s Performance Pack, where you can make your low-rent diesel look like a range-topping powerhouse.

The rumours are Volkswagen will make the announcement on the creation of the ‘R’ Division at the Geneva Motor Show in March. But so far it is just a rumour.

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