One of the oddest car ever made by the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture was the Bora-Golf, seen here in a very pretty shade of red in Beijing in 2011. It was actually called the Volkswagen Bora HS and based on the Mk4 Volkswagen Golf, it was made from 2006 until 2009. The HS had the front and rear lights of the facelifted first generation China-made Bora.
There were various reasons why Volkswagen decided to name the Golf IV Bora HS. Production of the Golf VI (China skipped the Golf V) started in 2009 and Volkswagen wanted to reserve the precious Golf-name for the new car.
Period factory photos.
Another reason was the Volkswagen Gol, which at the time was made in China by the Shanghai-Volkswagen joint venture. ‘Golf’ and ‘Gol’ created confusion, especially since the Chinese names were almost the same: Go’erfu and Go’er. The ‘HS’ moniker was not visible on the car but it was used in advertising.
The Bora HS was available with a 100 hp 1.6 or a 123 hp 1.8 liter, both petrol. The motors were mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic. Price in 2006 started at 112.500 yuan, which was a pretty good deal for a car of that size in those days.
Sadly, sales were disappointing. The name likely created even more confusion instead of less… The Bora HS proved to be the first and last Bora hatchback.