Volkswagen will begin selling the seventh generation of its best-selling Golf hatchback at the "end of 2012 or early 2013", the automaker says.
The next Golf will be the first VW to be based on the cost-saving modular transverse architecture, known by its German abbreviation "MQB", that will eventually be used to build millions of vehicles group-wide every year.
The company expects savings in the double-digit percentage range thanks to a production process that differs from the previous vehicle platforms, which only offer synergies across brands using the same underpinnings rather than synergies across brands and models.
The first vehicle to use MQB-based modularity will be the new Audi A3, due in the middle of 2012.
The VW spokesman's comments followsa report in Automobilwoche, a German-language sister publication of Automotive News Europe.
Automobilwoche, citing a person close to VW's CEO Martin Winterkorn, said the new Golf would arrive in showrooms in November 2012. However, the VW spokesman said no specific month had been set for the launch.
The next Golf will be the first VW to be based on the cost-saving modular transverse architecture, known by its German abbreviation "MQB", that will eventually be used to build millions of vehicles group-wide every year.
The company expects savings in the double-digit percentage range thanks to a production process that differs from the previous vehicle platforms, which only offer synergies across brands using the same underpinnings rather than synergies across brands and models.
The first vehicle to use MQB-based modularity will be the new Audi A3, due in the middle of 2012.
The VW spokesman's comments followsa report in Automobilwoche, a German-language sister publication of Automotive News Europe.
Automobilwoche, citing a person close to VW's CEO Martin Winterkorn, said the new Golf would arrive in showrooms in November 2012. However, the VW spokesman said no specific month had been set for the launch.