VW website to ask drivers what they want from new Golf

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Volkswagen is to set up a website asking potential Golf GTi customers in New Zealand what specifications they want in the new hot hatchback, expected to go on sale here around May next year.

The interactive marketing method is new to the car industry in New Zealand. Nissan did something similar with its 350Z sports car in the United States.

Like other carmakers, VW's website in New Zealand points to what is available in new models, a "what you see is what you get" offering.

But with the GTi it wants its customers to get involved in the final product, to place their orders months before the car's unveiling.

"What we are aiming for is customer feedback before the car is even in the country," said Dean Sheed, VW general manager for the marque's importers European Motor Distributors.

"The GTi is an enthusiast's car and the website is a way of getting good feedback on specification preferences. It will tell people about the car and what's available with it. We will ask things like: 'do you want a direct-shift gearbox or 6-speed manual gearbox; 17-inch or 18-inch wheels; standard seats or race seats; three or five doors.'

"Once we get that information we can tailor orders for New Zealand. But we have to warn buyers that it won't be a matter of how many GTis we can get, but rather if we can get enough.

"Global demand for the fifth-generation Golf is staggering.

"Demand for the GTi alone will outstrip supply in its first year of sale."

The New Zealand website will be up and running in October, a week or so after the GTi is unveiled at the Paris motor show and a month before the international press launch in the south of France.

It is based largely on the one VW is using in Britain. Customers specify their GTi through a simple step-by-step method, choosing, for example, colours, options and upholstery.

The site will contain a wealth of information about the fifth- generation GTI. But there won't be anything about pricing until later in the year.

The previous 1.8-litre Golf GTi of a couple of years ago started in price in New Zealand at around $49,000. The new model is expected to be around $54,000 for the six-speed manual. It will be better equipped than the British-spec three-door GTi, which is listed at £19,995 ($55,000).

VW says the new front-drive Golf GTi is a highly focused hot hatchback, which harks back to the spirit of the ground-breaking Mk I model of 1976, the car that largely started the hot-hatch segment.

It will stand out from mainstream Golfs via a honeycomb grille, roof spoiler and GTI badges that emulate those used on the first-generation model.

Power will come from a turbocharged 150kW (200bhp), direct-injection four-cylinder 2-litre petrol engine, notable for its flexible torque delivery and mated to either a standard six-speed manual or optional Direct-Shift Gearbox. DSG is already available in the mainstream Golf range and combines the advantages of a conventional six-speed manual gearbox with the qualities of a modern automatic transmission.

Basically, DSG allows two gears to be engaged at the same time - a pre-selection process - thereby reducing shift times and providing an almost uninterrupted flow of power, unlike a conventional automatic, where power is lost through the torque converter.

The design was first patented in Germany in 1940, by Rudolf Franke, a professor of engineering. Audi used a DSG set-up in the legendary Audi Sport Quattro back in 1985, with rally champion Walter Rohrl at the wheel.

The GTi will also use the latest Golf's new multi-link rear suspension, which has considerably improved the ride/handling mix.

A hotter Golf version still will arrive in 2006. The all-wheel-drive R32 will use the new direct-injection 3.2-litre V6 engine, which powers the just-released Audi A6.

VW data shows between 25 and 30 per cent of Golf buyers in New Zealand over the past 10 years have opted for the GTi.

"That continued up until a few years ago, until we couldn't get the GTi," said Sheed.

"So we replaced the GTi with the V5 Golf and sales went to around 30 per cent again."

It wasn't that VW in New Zealand couldn't get GTi variants, rather VW head office in Germany went soft on the GTi badge and started putting it on low output, stodgy petrol and diesel models for Europe.

It was cynical window-dressing and the badge lost its lustre. VW says the new purpose-built GTi restores it to its former glory.