WOLFSBURG, Germany — The 2010 Volkswagen Golf is getting LED rear lights, but the uplevel feature is rolling out in Europe, not the United States.
"No plans for the current generation [U.S.] which was just introduced," wrote Volkswagen of America spokesman Steve Keyes when asked by Inside Line about the LED rear lights in an e-mailed message on Thursday.
Volkswagen AG said the LED rear lights will now be offered as standard equipment on the Golf R. They are optional on the Golf GTI and GTD for the U.S. equivalent of $515.
The new feature contains a total of 48 LEDs, said VW, making the Golf "easy to recognize in the dark." The LED lights also have a daylight identifying characteristic: a low, white stripe defining the lower border of the rear light.
VW is describing the LED rear lights as a safety feature. "Their response time to brake activation is 0.2 second faster than that of conventional incandescent lights," the German automaker said in a statement. "This difference can save lives: at a speed of 100 km/h [62 mph], it is equivalent to 5.6 meters' [18.3 feet] braking distance."
Inside Line says: Sorry, this upscale feature will not be coming to the Golfs sold in these parts. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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jrhoglund1 says:
04:32 PM, 12/12/2010
LED,s Are The Biggest New Thing Can You Say Huge After Market Opportunity!!!
mnml says:
08:54 AM, 12/11/2009
festus67,
Dont take the conversions literally.
mr42hh says:
01:29 AM, 12/11/2009
@festus67
The German prices appear higher because:
-In Germany you expect a healthy discount on the MSRP, even on brand-new models
-The German MSRPs contain 19% VAT, while the American prices don't
So the difference is not as big as it seems.
Also the American GTI has an older, simpler engine than the Euro model. Which helps keeping the US model's price down.
kyolml says:
08:42 PM, 12/10/2009
base model Impreza comes with it.... come on... German accountants
black07gti says:
08:33 PM, 12/10/2009
Too bad because my GTI goes through tail light bulbs like it's going out of style. Mazda 3 Grand Touring has them though for about the same price as the base GTI, though not as fast.
festus67 says:
05:26 PM, 12/10/2009
Um...stephen987,
While i understand your disappointment , sorry to burst your bubble. Just about everyone in the world pays more for cars than we do - however, is only part of the reason we don't get variety here.
For example:
2010 VW GTI 6M
US Base MSRP: $23,290
German Base MSRP: 26.650 ¿ (which equals $39,263)
They pay more, therefore they get more choice.
More evidence:
BMW 128i Coupe US Base MSRP: $29,900
BMW 125i Coupe (closest comparison) German Base MSRP: 32.550 ¿ (which equals $47 955)
$515 doesn't look so bad afterall, eh? I'm sure there's be a knockoff available through VWVortex soon.
aeros818 says:
04:31 PM, 12/10/2009
Maybe we'll be able to buy them seperately? After-market coming soon hopefully..
stephen987 says:
04:20 PM, 12/10/2009
VWs already cost too much in the US. No wonder we don't get the extras the Euro market does--throw in a couple of items like this and pretty soon a Golf starts creeping into 128i territory.