While going through some auto suppliers’ internal communication materials, we found out that DRB-Hicom’s Automotive Manufacturers Malaysia (AMM) plant in Pekan has built 1 unit of Volkswagen Golf R.

AMM is where Volkswagen’s local vehicle assembly facility is located. It currently makes three models – Tiguan Allspace, Golf GTI, and Arteon.

The presence of a Golf R at the Pekan plant is rather odd because the Volkswagen Golf R sold by Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) is imported (CBU) from the Wolfsburg plant in Germany.

Also, no other VW plant worldwide produces the all-wheel drive Golf R, thus making this Malaysia-assembled CKD Golf R – if proven to be true – a first in the world!

The less powerful, front-wheel drive Golf GTI is currently produced in three locations – Wolfsburg, Germany, Changchun, China; and Pekan, Malaysia.

VPCM launched the locally assembled (CKD) Golf GTI in February 2022 alongside the imported Golf R.

Since then, the Pekan plant has built 771 units of the Golf GTI (as of May 2023).

The CKD 245 PS / 370 Nm front-wheel drive Golf GTI is priced at RM 246,012, inclusive of 5 years extended warranty and 3 years free maintenance package.

Curiously, the imported Golf R’s is still shown on the brand’s local website but the model’s price list has not been updated with VPCM’s new Volkswagen Assurance Package (VAP) format price list, suggesting that a new model is on the way.

The Golf R is still listed at RM 431,162. Local assembly will exempt the Golf R from the 30 percent import duty. Depending on the value of content used, a further reduction from the 80 percent excise duty (for 2.0-litre engine capacity passenger cars) is also possible but considering VW's lower sales volume, it's unlikely that they will have enough economies of scale to do more local parts sourcing.

If the presence of a CKD Golf R is true, it’s a new milestone for VPCM because no other country outside of Germany has been given the honour to locally assemble the Golf R, the pinnacle of VW’s most iconic line of cars.

A price-deducted Golf R will be welcomed alternative to hot hatch/mega hatch fans who can no longer handle three pedals and prefer to drive an autotragic automatic transmission point-and-shoot track weapon that they can drive daily.

If VPCM does succeed in building a business case for the CKD Golf R this year, its launch will coincide with the Honda Malaysia's impending launch of the FL5 Honda Civic Type R, which will be imported from Japan (CBU). It will also go up against the Toyota GR Corolla, which has just started deliveries to customers.

Also read: 2023 Honda Civic Type R (FL5) spied in Malaysia; set to hound the GR Corolla, circa RM 350k?