VW pins hopes on the new Golf

Europe's biggest car maker Volkswagen yesterday took the wraps off the latest version of its best selling Golf, a car seen as crucial to its fortunes.

The company, based in the German town of Wolfsburg which yesterday changed its name to mark the car's launch, plans to make 600,000 of the model next year.

Though VW's brand spans marques from Seat and Skoda to Bentley and Bugatti, the Golf is central to the group's sales success.

So far the Golf, launched in 1974, has clocked up sales of more than 22m vehicles, having overtaken even the Beetle and VW is looking to the fifth generation of the car to provide fresh sales momentum.

Robert Ashton, automotive analyst at Commerzbank in London describes the Golf as "crucial".

"It's the group's most important product. It accounts for 25% of the VW brand's sales. It has historically been Europe's best seller, but has come under increased pressure, particularly from the French manufacturers."

The new model is slightly bigger than its predecessor and will go on sale in Germany in October. According to VW it is expected to be in UK showrooms early next year.

The Golf is expected to sell at a similar price to the version it is replacing but will have additional features fitted as standard, according to a spokesman.

VW is hoping that the new car will help revitalise flagging sales in the face of fierce competition from cars such as the Ford Focus and Peugeot 307.

The company made net profit in the second quarter of the year of €394m (£273m) down from €776m in the same quarter the previous year. Global sales fell almost 3% to €22.1bn.