Australians are embracing hot hatches even faster than the biggest seller of them expected.
Volkswagen has a four-month waiting list for its most expensive hot hatch, the Golf R (priced from $48,490), the fastest Golf ever made.
Order one today and you'll be lucky to take one home in March next year; some customers may have to wait until Easter.
It is a case of history repeating itself; when the previous generation Golf GTI was released locally in 2005 the waiting list stretched up to eight months at its peak.
"There are a handful of cars in dealer stock, but the reality is that most Golf R customers want to choose their own options and that means there is a bit of a wait," said Volkswagen Australia spokesman Karl Gehling.
"We obviously don't like to keep our customers waiting and we are doing everything we can to get the orders filled as quickly as possible.
"But it is fair to say the car has exceeded even our [sales] expectations."
The Carsales Network understands that VW Australia ordered more than twice as many Golf R hot hatches than it did with the previous model, and still it has sold out.
Australians have a healthy appetite for hot hatches -- one in four Golfs sold locally is a GTI or a Golf R. The global average is just five per cent.
Volkswagen only has itself to blame for the booming demand. When it released the new generation Golf R locally in June this year, it slashed the price by $7000, despite giving the new model more power, more performance and more equipment -- and made it less than $10,000 dearer than a comparable GTI (three-door manual in each case), putting it within reach of a lot more customers.
Meanwhile, Ford has sold out of all but a handful of Focus RS hot hatches despite its $60,000 price tag. "We've been absolutely delighted with the response, it's the easiest car we've ever launched," said Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary.
Just 315 Focus RS cars will be imported and the company says once they're sold there will be no more.
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