2013 VW Golf Mk 7

by autoindustrie | October 3, 2011 7:18 am

Summary :

• Lower, wider proportions, steeper raked A-pillars.
• Greater differentiation between standard Golf, 3 and 5-door GTi and taller Golf Plus.
• All new MQB platform

The VW Group has been on a product offensive siege over the last 3 years or so. The current Mk 6 generation Golf is hardly an old car. It was launched in Europe in early 2009. Even when judged by standards of Japanese models, which typically have a shorter model lifecycle than European models, the Golf is just reaching its mid-life cycle.

Still, it appears that VW is preparing to replace the current Golf by mid or late 2013. According to Autocar UK[1], the 2013 Golf will have a wider footprint, lower roof line, lower driving position and a steeply raked windscreen. Probably similar to the Scirocco but less extreme. Also said is a greater differentiation between 3 and 5 door and Plus variants of the Golf. While interior will feature a driver focused dash (similar to BMW?), answering a common criticism levelled against VW models – that its interior, although is very well built with sound ergonomics, just doesn’t seem special enough. Active steering is also said to be included.

The image at the top is only a digital rendering by AutoCar UK and is NOT the actual vehicle.

On VW’s eagerness to get rid of the existing Golf, remember that the Mk 6 Golf was introduced within just 5-years of the Mk 5. A 5-year model life cycle is common for Japanese models but less so for European, which typically stretch up to 7-years.

With almost 10 brands in its portfolio, and that sort of scale allows the company to explore various different strategies to optimise vehicle development cost, by sharing parts across many different brands and models. VW is eager to cut cost, and the current Mk VI Golf, which itself is a development from the Mk V underpinnings, is far from being an efficiently produced car. And we know that VW is eager to move all its cars to its new generation of more flexible modular platforms – namely MQB and MLB.

MQB is short for Modularer Querbaukasten (Modular Transverse Matrix) and MLB is short for Modularer Längsbaukasten (Modular Longitudinal Matrix). Both are what VW calls part of a greater modular tool kit strategy, fancy word for parts sharing to lower cost.

MQB will be used for VW Group’s cars with transverse mounted engines and will be usually (but not limited to) used for its small cars.

MLB will be generally used for VW Group’s larger models.

The 2013 Golf will be built off the MQB platform.

For more updates on the Golf Mk 7, go here[2].

The first set of images in the photo gallery, shared by AutoCar[3] should be for the Golf GTI (twin tail pipes, wheels gave it away) while the set shared by WorldCarFans[4] should be for the regular Golf.

Source URL: http://www.motorindustry.org/2011/10/03/2013-vw-golf-mk-7/

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