Volkswagen is one of the worlds largest car manufacturers and as part of the VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) it owns VW, Seat, Skoda, Audi, Lamborghini and Bugatti, and is currently in talks about a merger with Porsche. Such a voluminous repertoire gives VW access to great economies of scale meaning its floor pans, chassis, and engines along with switchgear and other components can be used several times across the different model ranges spreading out the development costs. Volkswagen is the top selling brand in Europe and is rapidly expanding in China, and also is taking advantage of the current difficulties in the US market and the demand for fuel efficient cars to expand into the US as well. UK Volkswagen Models:
VW Fox The Volkswagen Fox is the smallest of the VW range, and is the successor to the popular Lupo model. The Fox is a 3 door hatchback city car but is also a fair bit bigger than the Lupo model and has not been as successful in the UK volumes sold. The Lupo was built in Europe and designed as small but high quality whereas the Fox is built in Brazil as low cost transportation and is powered in the UK market by a choice of a 1.2 or 1.4 litre petrol engines - a diesel is conspicuous by its absence. The Fox starts from £6840 on the road in the UK.
VW Polo The Volkswagen Polo is alongside the Golf one of VW's biggest European sellers. It comes in a 3 door or 5 door hatchback form and sells against rivals such as the Ford Fiesta and Renault Clio models. The current Polo is just about to be replaced by an all new model in September - this car is already on sale in Germany but its release date has been put back in the UK due to home market demand. The current outgoing model starts from £8935, with prices set to increase slightly for the new version.
VW Golf The Volkswagen Golf is an icon in European motoring and has been the best selling car in Europe since the year dot. It shares its underpinnings with several models - the Seat Leon, the Skoda Octavia, along with VW's own Jetta, Scirocco and Tiguan models. It comes with a huge engine range with the diesel options being the most popular, the new 2.0 TDI common rail engine taking over from the Venerable 1.9 Pump Deuse engine. The Golf is currently in its 6th generation and looks to continue for years to come.
VW Jetta The Volkswagen Jetta is a very close relative to the Golf and is effectively a Golf with a boot, or a Golf saloon if you prefer. It was primarily developed for the American market where hatchbacks are not as popular in the European countries, and the Jetta does not sell as well here as it does in America. The Jetta has been around for several generations but has had a few name changes along the way, with the previous models also being known as the Bora and Vento, but all being a saloon version of that generations Golf model.
VW Golf Plus The Volkswagen Golf Plus is a high roofed version of the standard Golf model with all new styling. This higher roof and slightly extended bodyshell is semi MPV in nature and designed for those whom a Golf is too small but a Touran is too large. It is popular with older people as the high roof-line makes it easier to get in and out. The Golf plus costs approximately £1500 more than the equivalent Golf model and is available with a slightly reduced engine range.
VW Scirocco The Volkswagen Scirocco is now in its 3rd version as a coupe version of the Golf model - it takes its dynamics from a similar set up to the Golf GTi and shares the same 2.0 turbo engine, with a 1.4 turbo and a2.0 diesel also being available. The Scirocco has not been around for some time, the mark 1 and 2 Scirocco models being followed up by the corrado based on the Mk33 golf, but the Mk4 Golf did not receive a coupe version.
VW Eos The Volkswagen Eos is based on a platform that is a mixture of Golf front end and Passat rear, and takes over from the less than successful golf cabriolet versions. The Eos has a folding hard top roof that is split into 3 sections allowing it to span over 4 full size seats without requiring an A pillar that extends back over the drivers heads like it does on equivalent Peugeot and Renault competitors. The Eos is currently rated as one of the best compact folding hardtop convertibles available.
VW Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle is the retro styled copy of the original beetle but based on the old mark 4 Golf platform, meaning that it abandons the original beetles rear engined rear wheel drive steup and moves to a more modern front engined front wheel drive design. The Beetle Mk2 has been around for a long time now and is stuck with some rather outdated engines that are starting to show their age, but its cheeky girly styling and focus on looks rather than performance means this is not an issue for the mainly female customer base that buys the cars.
VW Passat The Volkswagen Passat has been around for as long as the Golf model, and is the mid size family saloon and estate model that also sells well as an executive company car in the fleet market. It shares most of the larger VW range of engines and the 2.0 diesel is easily the most popular, although the engine range goes all the way up to a 3.6 litre V6 in the performance R36 model. The Passat sells against its main rival the Ford Mondeo, but has more of a comfort orientated set up whereas the Mondeo has a sharper more handling based suspension set up.
VW Passat CC The Volkswagen Passat CC follows the trend set by the Mercedes CLS by producing a 4 door saloon with a swoopy curvy coupe roof line. This has the effect of reducing the headroom for the individual rear seats but the styling is improved vastly by this change taking the standard Passat and making it positively "sexy". Prices are around £1200 - £1500 more than the equivalent normal Passat model for the CC version, and the engine and trim range is reduced.
VW Phaeton The Volkswagen Phaeton is VW's attempt at the ultimate luxury car for those that aren't badge snobs. Unfortunately for VW, those that buy luxury motors generally are badge snobs, hence the low levels of sales, despite the cars mechanical talents. Looks wise the Phaeton appears as a slightly bigger more luxurious Passat, but has a fantastic W12 12-cylinder engine that is incredibly smooth, a fantastic interior and advanced 4 wheel drive. But the VW badge kills it when compared to the market best seller, the Mercedes S-Class. Thankfully VW proved the capability of the engine and chassis when it used them for the Bentley Continental GT model, which won rave reviews and has great levels of sales.
VW Touran The Volkswagen Touran is VW's compact MPV people carrier, based on the passat platform the Touran carries 7 people in comfort, or 5 people and their luggage. It has like most compact people carriers a folding 3rd row of seats that stows into the floor when not in use making it very practical as a family car. The Touran model sells against competitors such as the Renault Scenic and the Ford S-Max.
VW Sharan The Volkswagen Sharan is a full size seven seat people carrier that has been in production for a very long time. The Sharan was joint developed with Ford, who sold a rebadged version with different grille and interior as the Ford Galaxy, but have since discontinued the model. The design was also used for the Seat Alhambra model which is identical to the Sharan in almost every way save the badge and a cheaper price. The Sharan has long been a favourite car of taxi drivers due to its people carrying ability and trusty diesel engines.
VW Tiguan The Volkswagen Tiguan is the smaller of the 2 VW 4x4 off road SUV cars, and is based on a stretched VW Golf platform. It shares the larger engines with the Golf model, with the 2.0 diesel predictably being the biggest seller. The Tiguan starts from £18,640 on the road in the UK.
VW Touareg The Volkswagen Touareg is the largest of the 4x4 models that VW produce, and was developed in conjunction with partners Porsche to develop the Cayenne 4x4 (and also subsequently used for the Audi Q7). The Touareg was developed at the same time as the Phaeton in a period when Volkswagen was trying to stretch its legs upmarket, and produced a fine 4x4 with a high quality interior, however, demand for larger SUV models has slipped drastically in the last year and residuals have been hit hard, meaning huge discounts are available due to the lack of a premium badge.
VW Caravelle The Volkswagen Caravelle is a people carrier based on a converted Volkswagen Van. it is not available from VW car dealers in the UK, but via Volkswagen's separate commercial van division, but the caravelle is still seen as the closest available successor to the iconic VW Camper.