Hm, stupid.
I can’t imagine that compiling a brochure costs massive amounts of money, cutting it seems.. unnecessary. I agree that the configurator is relatively awful. We just went through it, ordered a VW yesterday – even the computer system seems a bit convoluted, had trouble finding certain options etc.
The only reason i could see for that is that it’s easier to change models (as in, remove features due to shortage etc) if there’s no brochure to change as well. That’s what happened a few months ago when we were looking at a Mercedes, which in the brochure was advertised with interior ambient lighting, auto parking, augmented reality sat nav etc – all of which had been removed already from the spec (apart from the interior lighting, that was just reduced – all ambient lights in the centre console and dashboard got removed, the ones in the door stayed).
So if we’d have ordered a car based on the brochure, we’d have gotten a huge unpleasant surprise, basically getting a car with half the stuff we thought (and a non-adjusted price on top).
Meh.. In the end, lets be real, nothing beats going to the dealership and be stern (not rude!) about things. If you want to see something, ask them, don’t let them waffle, ask specific questions and have everything that interests you shown.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.