VW Golf Goes on a Diet

Volkswagen AG says using stronger steel enabled it to trim 220 lbs (100 kg) from the weight of its next-generation Golf small sedan and help boost the car's fuel efficiency 23%. The car debuts next month.

VW notes that the new Audi A3 sedan, which shares the Golf platform, is 176 lbs (80 kg) lighter than the previous model. Both cars are products of the company's MQB (modular transverse matrix) small-car platform, which eventually will be used by 40 models representing about 3.5 million units of annual output worldwide.

VW reiterates that it expects the MQB system to reduce production time 30% and the costs of production and tooling by 20% each. The company said earlier this year that the new modular platform will enable it to reduce engine and transmission combinations in its small cars by 90%.

VW has estimated that shifting to the new chassis could permit a single plant to make the company's Beetle, CC, Golf, Jetta, Polo, Tiguan, Touran, Sharan and Passat cars, MPVs and crossovers on the same assembly line.