2013 Volkswagen Golf

World premiere of the new Golf in Berlin

Seventh generation of bestseller is up to 100 kg lighter and 23 per cent more fuel efficient than previous model

Thousands of invited guests experienced the world premiere of the new Golf this evening in Berlin. The New National Gallery proved a fitting venue for the perfected seventh generation of the car that has defined an entire vehicle class with regard to vehicle weight, emissions, comfort and safety.

'Six generations of the Golf – 1974 to 2012. That represents 38 years of continuous success for the world bestseller with sales totalling 29.13 million cars. It has also made a tremendous economic impact, safeguarding jobs, and has served as an influential measure of technical progress over the epochs,' says Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. The corporate chief continues: 'We want to continue this success story in the seventh generation Golf. Although the new Golf is safer, more comfortable and spacious than the previous model, it is up to 100 kg lighter and – in the case of the new 140 PS petrol engine that features cylinder deactivation and a combined fuel consumption of just 4.8 l / 100 km – it is up to 23 per cent more fuel efficient.'

Conceptually, the new Golf is based on the Modular Transverse Matrix. This means that everything was redesigned: from the body and powertrain to the interior – as well as all information and entertainment systems and its many new assistance systems. Volkswagen developed two entirely new generations of engines for the Golf that offer a power range from 63 kW / 85 PS to 110 kW / 150 PS. All engine versions are equipped with a standard stop/start system and battery regeneration, which contribute towards improved fuel economy. The common rail engine with 77 kW / 105 PS, for example, which can hardly be made out as a diesel, only consumes 3.8 litres of fuel per 100 km, equivalent to CO2 emissions of 99 g/km. Once again, the Golf BlueMotion sets the new benchmarks for the model series with CO2 emissions of just 85 g/km and a combined fuel consumption of 3.2 litres of diesel per 100 km.

Source - Volkswagen

Volkswagen launches Golf campaign in 33 countries

• First three-phase advertising campaign

• Initial stage focuses on the search for the 'most important' things in life

• Online platform www.onething.com encourages users to reflect and share

Wolfsburg, 05 September 2012 - Volkswagen's international advertising campaign for the new Golf is being launched to coincide with the model's world premiere. The first phase of the campaign focuses on people and their priorities in life. Seven personal questions create an emotional tonality that characterizes the advertising image of the new Golf across all media channels.

'Future is about engagement: great cars, great products, great image are the base for the foundation of a strong brand', explains Giovanni Perosino, Head of Volkswagen Marketing Communications. 'To reinforce the image of Volkswagen we are trying to create ads that touch people´s hearts with authentic, human, appealing and clear messages', continues Perosino.

To stimulate the enthusiasm and interest of the target group, Volkswagen is asking all users of the new Golf online platform personal questions designed to encourage reflection: 'If you could only listen to ONE SONG for the rest of your life, which one would it be?' and 'If you could choose only ONE PLACE to live for the rest of your life, which one would it be?' are just two of a total seven questions that visitors to the website can answer.

All onething.com users can create their own profile and share their answers with their friends via the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ social networks. Promotional games and a personalized film which presents the answers in road movie style bring additional value. There are also statistics to illustrate the broad range of answers and highlight country-specific characteristics.

Furthermore, Volkswagen has been fortunate enough to win the support of several well-known personalities to publicize the campaign on their own online social channels. VIPs such as DJ Paul van Dyk and professional skateboarder Tony Hawk have created their own profiles on onething.de.

International artists also agreed to talk about the most important things in life in the first-phase TV commercial entitled 'ONETHING.' The commercial is directed by England's Brett Foraker, whose credentials include Creative Director at Britain's Channel 4.

The second phase of the new Golf campaign will follow at the end of October. DDB and Grabarz & Partner share the budget for the advertising campaign.

Source - Volkswagen

The new Golf. Design – the key to perfection

• Golf exterior one of the world's most recognisable product designs
• Seventh stage of Golf evolution shows clearly added dynamism and precision
Golf reflects par excellence the principles of Volkswagen's design DNA




The design of the new Golf

In developing the new Golf the teams led by head designers Walter de Silva (Group) and Klaus Bischoff (Brand) based their work on the one hand on a great deal of creative freedom that allows many different approaches for a new design, while on the other also on the principles of the Volkswagen design DNA. A look at this DNA reveals the key to the new Golf's design.



This DNA creates a unique, unmistakable language of product features and design. The language of product features leaves on the one hand a familiar feeling and yet on the other a new sensation in the eyes of the observer. The features are visual characteristics such as functionality, robustness, honesty and reliability. These characteristics are generated by a language of form perfected over many years. It creates the typical Volkswagen product design that today enjoys success around the globe.

Premium proportions. 'This language of form,' explains Bischoff, 'is logical, solid, product-focussed, pure and precise and reflects the brand's design DNA as a perfect model of creativity. The base architecture of the new Golf is therefore unmistakable. It comes over as simple, strong, understandable, reliable and safe. Starting from the pure element of this clear base architecture, details such as the economical use and placement of sculptural lines are more like fine nuances. Another extremely important point is the fact that with the seventh generation the Golf's proportions have completely changed, making the car look more premium-class than ever before!'

Marc Lichte, leading designer for the exterior, explains: 'The proportions have changed, as we have taken advantage here of the Modular Transverse Matrix. The front wheels, for example, have moved 43 millimetres further forward. The front overhang is therefore shorter and at the same time the bonnet looks longer.' Klaus Bischoff confirms this: 'Visually, the passenger compartment has moved towards the rear, creating what is called a 'car-backward' impression. That's what we call the proportions of premium-class vehicles, on which the bonnet is long and the passenger compartment a long way towards the back. On the new Golf we thus have proportions that you otherwise only get in higher-class segments of the market.'

Silhouette with powerful lines. Marc Lichte: 'And we sought to underline these modified proportions with design elements. Below the door handles we have integrated the now clearly visible and very sharp character line. While this line is broken by the wheel arches, it is otherwise continuous and is stylistically reflected in the chrome bars of the radiator grille and headlights and at the back in the white lateral bars of the rear light clusters. Set deep down all the way around, this line lowers the apparent centre of gravity and makes the car appear more solid on the road. Another striking element is the new line along the side shoulder directly below the windows. This line begins at the front in the headlight, then glides under the wing mirror, which is positioned right on the line, all the way through to the rear side window, underling the premium proportions of the new Golf.' The wheel arches are particularly prominent as well and along with the wider track, the longer wheelbase and tyre dimensions of up to 18 inches make the Golf appear more powerful.

'Two further features,' explains Klaus Bischoff, 'are characteristic of the new Golf silhouette. Two typical Golf elements: the C-pillar and the roofline. On the previous Golf the character line still cut through the C-pillar. This is no longer the case on the new Golf. The C-pillar thus runs along one homogenous surface from the start of the roof all the way to the rear wheel arch. Above the wheel arch, however, it picks up more strongly the entire width of the car – and as a result, seen from behind or diagonally from the rear, the new Golf looks more solid and more powerful. Viewed straight on from the side the precision of the C-pillar design catches the eye, resembling the drawn string of a bow and thus giving the Golf a speedy appearance even when static, while at the same time paying homage to the Golf Mk2 and Mk4 – both design icons.' On the right-hand side of the vehicle even the shape of the fuel cap is integrated into this arrow element. Head Designer Klaus Bischoff continues: 'The contour of the roofline has also been completely redesigned. Here, too – above the side windows – the Golf now displays a further line, which runs from the roof-edge spoiler right through to the A-pillars. It is one of those character features that give the Golf a particularly high-value look from the side as well – a line that at first fleeting glance perhaps remains unnoticed, yet is a further detail en route to visual precision.'

The front section. The Volkswagen design DNA manifests itself in a 'face' that has appealing features. In addition, in the same way as on the first Golf, it defines horizontally balanced elements that create a certain width. Together they produce a front section that is recognisable in every rear view window as that of a Volkswagen. Each Volkswagen class has its own character attributes in this respect. In the Golf class these include, for example, the slightly upward sweeping headlights and a defined maximum height for the radiator grille.

Compared to its predecessor, the new Golf displays completely restructured modulation of its surfaces. While on the Golf Mk6 the wings were higher than the bonnet – effectively framing it – this is now the other way round. On the sides the crease lines form the wings' lowest points, before the latter transfer vertically into the wheel arches. The top border of the wings is formed by a line, as if cut by a knife, that begins at the A-pillars. All of the lines together form a V-shaped bonnet.

Beneath the bonnet then come the redesigned headlights and the comparatively narrow band of the radiator grille. At the bottom the radiator grille is bordered – to the left and right of the chrome Volkswagen badge – by a chrome bar, which where xenon headlights are fitted is continued in the headlight housing. Particularly striking is the xenon headlight's LED daytime running light. Meanwhile the bottom air inlet, in conjunction with the body-coloured area beneath the headlights, supports the strong horizontal arrangement of the front section design. The air inlet is now framed by a body-coloured area that even with the car's very self-assured look gives it the typical Volkswagen smile. Another core design element is the bend at the outer ends of the bumper, which produces – especially in aerial view – a change of shape.

The rear view. Typical Golf elements at the rear include the clear geometry of the rear lights, the rear window stretching all the way to the C-pillars and the large homogenous surface around the Volkswagen badge. Iconic: even without the badge or model name the seventh generation of this best-seller is instantly recognisable as a Golf. And yet every line is new. That applies both to the rear light clusters (with striking L-shaped contours, narrower on the inside and ending at the C-pillar on the outside) and to the tailgate, which reaches much lower down, and the lowest boot sill height in its class (665mm). A horizontal light-refracting edge near the bottom of the tailgate, which continues on the bumper, and the boot sill running parallel below this underline the sportily full width of the new Golf. These elements also correspond to the lines of the now much more pronounced and optically 'extended' bumper. The bumper itself is fully painted right down to the bottom, with only the centrally integrated diffuser, which also incorporates the exhaust pipe, kept black.

Source - Volkswagen

The new Golf. Lightweight design – searching for every gram

• kg less weight reduces fuel consumption appreciably

• Body-in-white weighs 23 kg less thanks to progressive design

• Innovative manufacturing methods reduce weight and enhance safety

Wolfsburg / Berlin, 04 September 2012
Saving up to 100 kg in weight is a complex task, especially in the compact class. The fact is that not every carmaker is pursuing the route of lightweight design – searching for every last gram – as methodically or thoroughly as Volkswagen. The reason is clear: intensive research and development work costs money. The fact that despite its higher specification the base price of the seventh generation Golf has not gone up by a single cent is a reflection of the innovative power of this brand.

Overall vehicle – how savings add up to 100 kg
If you divide the Golf up into the primary areas of electrical equipment, engines, running gear and superstructure, an analysis yields - depending on model, specification and type of engine - the following split for the weight reduction:

Úp to -6.0 kg = Electrical
Úp to -40.0 kg = Engines
Úp to -26.0 kg = Running gear
Úp to -37.0 kg = Superstructure

In purely mathematical terms the total potential saving is thus even as much as 109 kilograms. Due, however, to the configuration options that can be implemented in practice, the maximum achieved in any one vehicle is 100 kg. The greatest weight reduction is achieved from the engines and superstructure. It is particularly interesting to look into the details of the superstructure (car body and interior) and the 37 kilograms saved here, as it shows how lightweight design that is compatible with large-scale production can be achieved in 2012.

Superstructure – how savings add up to 37 kg

Dashboard. 0.4 kg doesn't sound like much. But this is where perfection in the details comes into play. If you ignore 0.4 kg, you will never ultimately achieve 100 kg. Volkswagen not only succeeded in making the dashboard 20 per cent lighter thanks to a new thermoplastic foam injection process – the load-bearing, sandwich-like structure beneath the elegant surface consists of this material – but also in making it 20 per cent more rigid at the same time.

Source - Volkswagen