VW plans a family affair with GTi line-up

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Volkswagen wants to introduce buyers to a new family of cars - its GTi models.

"It's something we can do and our competitors can't," said Volkswagen's national sales manager Dean Sheed.

"The term GTi is synonymous with Volkswagen anyway. It established the badging in the 1970s with the first Golf and has carried it right through.

"Our researchers told us we were known for it and so we decided to market the family aspect."

The new GTi plan revolves around the launch in May of the new-generation Polo.

One of the models in the line-up is a GTi, which the New Zealand market hasn't seen. The current Polo range is being run out.

The GTi Polo is powered by a 1.6-litre, 16-valve four-cylinder engine developing a healthy 92kW.

It will come with Recaro sports seats, BBS alloy wheels, low-profile tyres, sports suspension, anti-lock brakes, and airbags.

"Then buyers move up a notch to the GTi Golf, the car that started it all," said Sheed.

"It's a cult status-type car which accounted for one in every three Golf models we sold in New Zealand last year."

The third member of the GTi family completes the line-up.

It will be the GTi New Beetle, powered by the same 1.8-litre turbocharged, 20-valve four-cylinder engine as the Golf.

But the Beetle gets something the Polo and Golf don't - a hydraulic spoiler similar in operation to the 911 Porsche wing. The spoiler will automatically pop up to provide down force when the car starts to hustle.

The New Beetle will also come with Recaro sports seats, BBS alloys and CD player.

The GTi marketing move is part of Volkswagen's plan to become the leading European marque in New Zealand.

BMW has occupied the top slot for the last 10 years with sales averaging more than 900 annually. But Volkswagen expects to take over from BMW this year.

In six years Volkswagen in New Zealand has gone from a small player to one of dominance. It now has a customer data base, something that didn't exist when it set up shop in 1994.

Back then there were only a handful of Volkswagens on the road, mostly privately imported Golfs, Jettas, Kombis and Beetles. VW didn't know who owned what.

The existing carpark and the line-up of vehicles - Polo, Golf, Passat, New Beetle- is one reason why the Giltrap Group has spent a few million dollars on improving Volkswagen's dealer network around the country, including a new site on the land which occupies the vehicle testing station in Auckland's Great North Road.

Another is that Volkswagen is cash rich, has overtaken Toyota as the third biggest vehicle-producer in the world, after General Motors and Ford, and is looking for more worlds to conquer.