The Volkswagen Gol is a cheap supermini car produced by Volkswagen in Brazil, and is a design unique to Latin America. It competes against the old Fiat Palio and the Chevrolet Celta. The Gol, which takes its name from the Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish word for 'goal' (European Portuguese word is Golo) is not to be confused with the Volkswagen Golf.
It is produced as a three-door or five-door hatchback, as well as a pickup truck, the Saveiro, and as a station wagon, known as the Parati in Brazil and Gol Country in Argentina. The first generation Gol was also sold as a sedan. The Brazilian two-door sedan was the Voyage; the four-door was called Amazon and Gacel, until 1990, and later Senda in Argentina. Both sedan and wagon versions were sold in the United States and Canada in the mid-1980s as the Volkswagen Fox.
In Brazil, the Gol has uninterruptedly been the best-selling car since 1987, and since 1998 in Argentina. Gol sales in South America are also high; 4.5 million Gols have been produced since 1980.
The Gol has been built in Iran since 2005 as a result of a joint-venture with Kerman Khodro. It is sold in Mexico and Russia as the Volkswagen Pointer, a name previously used in Latin America for a model based on the rebadged Ford Escort.
In September 2005 the "fourth generation" (in fact the last restyling of the Gol II) was released in Brazil. Multiple generation overlapping will be dropped; instead, Volkswagen will sell three versions, "City", "Plus" and "Power", with increasing price and build quality. This facelift will last two years, as a next-generation Gol with a completely new design will be built in 2007.
Additional images
Generation 1 (1980-1994)
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Gol I
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Gol I
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Gol I
Generation 2 (1994-2000)
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Gol II
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Gol II
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Gol II
Generation 3 (2000-2006)
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Gol III
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Gol III
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Gol III
Generation 4 (2006-)
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Gol IV
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Gol IV
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Gol IV
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