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Didn’t the Golf MK6 just come out? Well, it appeared in late 2009, and some alleged it wasn’t a full generation, facelift would have been the better term. Maybe that’s why Volkswagen is in a rush to introduce the next generation Golf, the Mk7 “by end of 2012,” reports Automobilwoche [sub].
The Mk7 will be the first Volkswagen to be built with the new “MQB” erector kit. “MQB” stands for “Modularer Querbaukasten” (“Modular Transverse Matrix”). The MQB allows the Volkswagen Group companies to design a wide variety of transverse, front-engined, front-wheel drive models. Some 3 million vehicles group-wide are to be built using the MQB kit:
Volkswagen expects savings in the double-digit percentage range from using the kit technology.
36 Comments on “In A Hurry: Volkswagen To Launch Next-Gen Golf By 2012...”
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New engine family?
From all reports, the present version of the Golf is built on a very good platform. Lets hope the MK7 is at least its equal.
I drove a Mark VI GTI yesterday – the new NA Jetta is trash compared to it. People should hurry and buy the current Golf/GTI if they’re interested before they do the same NA’ism to it as the Jetta…!!!
Problem in the U.S. is that the current Golf comes with a 2.5 liter 5-cylinder of uncompetitive power rating, therefore, unnecessary weight under the hood.
The alternatives in GTI or diesel push it into the $25K plus stratosphere.
The average cost of a car in the U.S. is $28,000, so 25K doesn’t put you anywhere near the stratosphere. In atmospheric terms, 25K puts you solidly in the troposphere at about the elevation of a kite on a really long string.
Trash compared to what? I’ve driven the 2.5 new Jetta and actually liked it, and I really don’t think it’s outclassed by a 2.5 Golf (which I do prefer, but based on the hatch and vehicle length). I’d actually put money on the new Jetta to outperform the Sportwagen, same 2.5, given the new car’s lower weight, and if you realize that the Sportwagen is really a stretched Golf, with IRS etc…. The GTI could only really be compared to the upcoming GLI, so if the GTI spanks that then maybe I’ll agree with you.
Not trying to be a dick here or anything, but I really don’t understand all the hate put on the new Jetta.
The Golf VI came out in October 2008, not 2009…
The new Sharan and the Alhambra were reported to be based on the MQB and are already out, the Up which is announced for 2011 or early 2012 will be as well. And the next Gen A3 (traditionally that would come out before the Golf) should be as well, soe the Golf VII won’t be the first based on the MQB…
Wasn’t it VW that said “We don’t change for the sake of change”?
I’d say that “savings in the double-digit percentage range” is a pretty good reason for change.
Let’s just hope that US offerings don’t all wind up like the poor abused Jetta. It was really kind of pitiful (IMO, of course) sitting in the showroom next to Golfs and a leftover 2010 Jetta TDI; a former sibling is now a red-headed stepchild…
So, with VW’s new ‘bottom feeder’ marketing strategy, will can count on the new U.S. market Golf being a Toyota Yaris/Hyundai Accent competitor? ugh.
All the unreliabilty and maintenence costs of other european cars, but NOW with cheap plastics and torsion-beam suspension and drum brake technology! Hey, they’re on their way to 800K US sales for sure!
funny you mention that. A while ago someone on this forum argued that even if his VW get to the shop a lot, he has a reason to look forward to get it back because its interior and driving are so nice.
Now the argument could be made, that they look forward to bring their VW to the shop so they can have a loaner that drives and looks better.
Either way, if you are a VW fanboy you always will find justification to keep up with repair cost. Same with BMW et al. Except now it may be harder to be a VW fanboy.
I know I’m missing something here but I could never spend $25k+ on a hatchback, but I suppose if I did it would either be this or the Mazdaspeed3. Eitherway, I always found that the Golf was trying way too hard make a statement – the plaid seats comes to mind.
An Audi 3 is a mere 27’ish plus, tax title and dealer fees at the lowest trim level.
But you’d spend it on a sedan? I’d take a hatchback over a sedan any day.
I agree. Not sure why, but boxy hatchbacks always look cheap to me. Always. I like the idea of the Volkswagen Golf and the Audi A3, but every time I see them on the lot next to the Jetta and A4, I always strongly prefer the sedan. However, I did like the look of the Mazda6 hatchback which has both hatch utility and real car proportions.
Boxy Hatchback = Crap
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chevette_1977.jpg
Long, Low, Wide = Desirable
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/01/curbside-classic-the-best-big-car-of-its-time-1970-chevrolet-impala/
Taking a Chevette as your example is kind of loading the dice, don’t you think?
I would definitely take a Golf over a Jetta, a Mazda3 hatchback over a sedan, a Matrix over a Corolla, and so on. Of course I would take a wagon over either a hatchback or a sedan, but that’s a different matter.
Each to his own, I suppose, but as a rule I generally don’t understand the fascination with sedans.
Guess I’m of the opposite inclination of Tyler. Seems to me that everybody is buying a sedan to impress, rather than for driving dynamics and practicality – thus the legions of middle-age ladies driving BMW 328’s. Something tells me that the cache of the brand has put them into a smallish sedan with an underpowered (for the price) motor, rather than its near perfect weight balance and other driving attributes.
My GTI, while lacking “real car proportions”, stands out to those who appreciate a driver’s car that can transport a family of four (and, in a pinch, a dog), haul a 50cc ATV, and pass a Porsche or two at the track.
And… it can be optioned with black leather seats, instead of the plaid, for less of a “statement”! ;)
What exactly is supposed to be impressive about a sedan over a nice wagon or a well built hatchback? Are sedans supposedly more grownup or something b/c my grandparents drove them?
I’ll take a sporty wagon, thanks. A sedan leaves me carting things around town with the trunk lid half-open held closed with twine or a bungee cord. I need to carry more than just passengers and I don’t want to drive a monster truck all year ’round (all current trucks are HUGE) just to carry a bulky 100 lb item home.
$25K? Easy, buy a used A3 3.2L and be done with it. Once you’ve had a VR6, a 4 will never satisfy, turbo or not.
Let’s hope they don’t cheapen it like they have done with the Jetta and Passat.
They won’t. The Golf is an afterthought in the US, thanks to all the idiots who can’t seem to get over the ’30s idea of a trunk, but it is VWs bread and butter in the rest of the world. It is THE standard of mainstream family cars in Europe. And Europeans would not buy something like the new US Jetta. They also didn’t buy the old Jetta.
Tyler Armstrong’s comment above is EXACTLY why VW is decontenting their mainstream cars in the US, and exactly why they will probably sell like crazy. Afterall, any country that will buy boatloads of crap like Toyota Corollas just because they are marginally more reliable, will buy anything if it is cheal enough.
Relatively low incomes for buyers of compact cars, high annual mileage, and high crime rates make driving conditions in the U.S. drastically different than in Europe. Cars of a given size have to be cheaper when they are driven 20,000 plus miles per year.
A small hatch is nothing but a window-shopping opportunity for thieves. Pulling the window shade cover simply advertises that there’s something worth stealing underneath.
The contents of an SUV or minivan are hidden by dark glass and are above eye level anyway.
Finally, the extra length in most cars with trunks gives the perception of increased safety in a rear-end crash.
Not sure why there’s always so much bitterness about the fact that VWs (and even hatchbacks) aren’t big sellers in this country. Sure, I’d take a hatchback over a sedan too, but I don’t understand the venom that comes out when other people don’t make that decision too. And while we’re on the subject of “crap” cars, I think most VWs belong in that category. The reliability issues associated with VWs of the last decade are absolutely shambolic – and it’s amazing that a “first tier” automaker has been getting away with it for so long. I’m not sure why Europeans put up with that garbage, frankly. Yeah they have better public transit, etc so if a car breaks down they can still manage to get to work, but if you’re going to invest in an automobile you’d think you’d want one that satisfies its core mission (i.e., transportation) before everything else.
A sub-$100k car that doesn’t reliably function as a transportation device is an epic fail, IMO. It doesn’t matter how pretty it is or how “nice it drives”, etc. If it won’t move under its own power, it’s nothing more than a very expensive and oversized driveway decoration.
Well, you can pan the looks of “boxy hatchbacks,” but this week I put, get this, twenty, yes, twenty forty litre boxes into my 2008 Honda Fit. Try getting that into any trunk….
I love hatchbacks, for me, the utility is like have more than one vehicle.
Wow…That’s quite the impressive beer run you made there.
Hic, shanks…shanks a mulion….
Jesus, I’m going to quit questioning the prospects of owning a hatchback over a sedan, you would’ve thought I shoved the Holy Mother herself into a sedan.
Rule 1: Don’t question hatchback drivers on their purchasing decision.
Rule #2: don’t feign astonishment when you discover that the rest of humanity doesn’t ascribe the same priority of form over function.
The aesthetics of hatches or plaid seats are debatable. That a hatch returns significantly greater economics and practical functionality over an identically-equipped sedan/coupe is not.
The hatchback is just another in a long-list of counterexamples disproving the necessity of owning mobile high-rise apartments to move passengers and cargo.
Just my 2 cents…that white “Golf” prototype is not the next MK7 Golf but rather a 2011 Beetle…
Personally I think the newest Polo should be the next US Golf, and the Scirocco should be used as a GTI/coupe premium option. I think that would probably be more in line with VW’s strategy of reducing base prices on intended volume models, it’d give them a much nicer halo hatch at the same time, as well as a coupe-ish body to sell with non turbo engines.
Tedward – GREAT idea. At least bring the Polo here and call it the Polo. Not the Fox please…
joeaverage
thanks, I know my VW fan-buddies would consider it sacrilege, but ze Golf is too expensive and the IRS means it can’t compete with the Fit on usable interior volume. Of course if this happens that’d leave the Mazda3 and new Focus as kings of the US hatch hill but…I doubt VW selling the Golf and the Polo simultaneously is going to happen so I’d prefer the Polo.
Meh, I’ll admit to cross-shopping the GTI and the Fit.
The Fits interior? Genius.
The Fits fit-n-finish? Absolute crap, which is an understatement. Doubling down on our experience, we had an opportunity to peer into a used ’09. What looked like crap in the new models morphed into something even worse. With $25 spent in soft plastics and fabric, Honda may have kept a customer. The feminine seating position and god-awful interior materials unfortunately made it a no-brainer.
I would have loved cross-shopping a Polo with a Golf, but we preferred 4 doors for a plethora of reasons. I see a lot of adults driving the 4-door Golf/GTI/TDIs these days; it looks like VW did its homework on which piece of steel to haul over the Atlantic.
cackalacka
I did the same thing (shopping the GTI vs. Fit), and I agree with your criticism of the Fit to a point. The problem is that the 2.5 Golf at $18k gave up too much fuel economy and interior space to the Honda, and still cost a little bit more. So you’re left looking at the GTI, starting at $25k vs. the $17k-ish Honda.
I still wonder if I wouldn’t have preferred the extra torque of the 2.5, but with a high miles/large dogs cargo requirement, the Honda wins.
edit: also, while the GTI has a good manual, the Fit’s is great (imo of course). I wasn’t as impressed with the regular Golf’s.
cackalacka – what is a feminine seating position? ;)
It really bugs me when a car manufacturer gets so close to having the details right. My 13 year old daily driver VW is about $150 from being really, really good. All the stuff that has broken on that car was plastic stuff that should have been made out of something better like aluminum like water outlets, thermostat housings and a few interior things.
A car manufacturer ought to do this stuff and I’d happily pay the extra $150. VW should have really gone the extra mile. Instead, they went about 50 extra feet on these items.
Still like the car though.
So are the rear seats in the Fit even usable? The one I sat in for 10 mins riding with a couple of coworkers was awful. I mean torture chamber awful. The rear seat headrests hit me right in the middle of my back. Tell me they telescope upwards? I didn’t ask or try.
Tedward-
Yeah, the gear-shift on the Fit was top-drawer. Throws were nicer than any box I drove. In terms of driving that the one items the Golf has against it. One of the top items I’m considering updating is putting in a short-shifter on the GTI.
As for the price, I got a pretty freakin’ sweat deal on the GTI (sunroof/4door for a grand+ south of the 25k number, with practically free-money financing.)
That puts it ~6 k north of the Fit. I’ll be the first to admit that, all things the same, if it weren’t for the blissful 2.0, that chunk of change would have been a non-starter and I’d still be with the H-badge. If I were to cross-shop the 2.5 or the TDI, the Fit would have likely come out on top. Hell, if they had dropped an extra $25 on the interior quality, the Fit would have likely come out on top against the GTI.
Hell+2, if the salesmen at both Honda dealerships I went to weren’t self-righteous gum chewing pricks who thought it was 1990 and not 2010, and presumed that because my previous two wheels were Hondas (and all my previous wheels Japanese) that I would be enamoured with their inventory, I probably would have driven off with a Fit.
I guess you can say, I am a jaded lover. Aside from your ride, and the now-deceased Element, they haven’t made a piece of steel worth looking at since 2004.