Volkswagen Unveils Two More MQB-Based Cars

Volkswagen will plenty of new products to show at this year's Paris Auto Show in September. And all of them are based on its new MQB global platform for front wheel drive cars.

First up, the third generation SEAT Leon. With it's sharp angles inside and out, it might just be the best looking Seat since the company was fully acquired by the Volkswagen group in 1990. The interior, in particular, shows a strong Audi influence. Audi has been very successful in mirroring shapes and motifs between exteriors and interiors since the 1999 Audi TT. With the Leon, the angles of the all LED headlamps and taillights are reprised in the interior dash and vent angles. It's really well done.

But alas, SEATs are not sold in North America (nor are Skodas, which will have a similar MQB offereing soon). So Volkswagen fans and enthusiasts who want the newest German front wheel drive hatchback experience must wait for the Mark VII Golf. Fortunately, the wait is over. Production of the Mk7 begins next month in Puebla, Mexico, Wolfsburg, Germany, and other plants worldwide.

The 2013 Golf Mk7

In a cost cutting move, it seems entry level models will feature a torsion beam rear suspension. But since the MQB platform is designed to accommodate multiple suspension systems, premium models will ride on superior multilink rear suspensions.

I have driven both the Mk5 and Mk6 Golf, and I appreciate its smoothness and active safety features (namely electronic stability control, which intrudes at almost every turn, much like my Hyundai Elantra Touring). I have hopes that the MQB platform will continue to grow, because I really want to see Volkswagen build the next Bulli microvan.

Volkswagen Group Announce Unified FWD Platform

Volkswagen has announced the platform that will serve as the foundation for most of their cars, from the tiny Up!, to the Audi A3, to the Skoda Octavia, to the VW Bulli. It's called MQB, or "Modular Transverse Matrix."

Simpy put, the next 30 to 40 front wheel drive models being produced by the Volksgaen group will ride on a unibody platform that has universal engine mounts and a driver pedal box located in the exact same location for every vehicle. 

However, almost everything else in the unibody can be adjusted to support a wide variety of body types and car lengths. Everything from seat height, to ground clearance, to body style can be changed within the MQB platform. So unlike recognizable global platforms on our streets today (the Subaru Impreza/Forester and Ford Focus/Escape come to mind), identifying MQB cars will not involve examining cabin widths, engines, or wheelbases. It will simply boil down to three questions: What is the drive train? Who makes it? And when was it produced? If the car is front wheel drive, produced by the Volkswagen group, and released after August 2010, then it rides on the MQB platform.

MQB was announced in 2011 and the first cars to be built upon it are already on the street. They are the VW Jetta and second generation Beetle. The next MQB product is now ready - the third generation Audi A3.

The MQB platform promises to reduce both costs and weight. The floor and roof of MQB vehicles can, in the near future, be made of aluminum, further reducing weight and improving fuel economy. Volkswagen says that the reduced cost will allow for a greater variety of options packages for consumers. Seats could have mor types of upholstery available. Fog lights could become standard equipment. LED lighting inside and out will soon become commonplace. And consumers will want information and navigation consoles, just like the Audis and Lamborghinis today. Rear facing cameras could also become standard equipment in all MQB cars.

Notable cars that will soon adopt MQB include the second generation Skoda Yeti, the Volkswaen Polo Mark VI, the Golf Mark VII, and the Bulli minibus, which is expected to hit North American streets in 2014.

The key trait in MQB is the distance between the front axle and the driver pedals will be the same for every vehicle in the platform. Volkswagen has been modernizing its manufacturing facilities for about 10 years now, and the new platform is one of several that it will use worldwide (there will be two luxury rear wheel drive platforms for the premium brands to use, such as Lamborghini and Bentley).

The platform reduces the number of different parts that connect the engine compartment to the firewall and passenger cabin. Volkswagen says it will simplify global manufacturing and reduce costs, and allow the use of any of VWs new aluminum engines. We know them well. The direct injection gasoline. The TDI (diesel). A new plug in hybrid. Two natural gas engines. A biodiesel. And now, an electric motor that VW wants to offer in the Up!, Golf, the Audi A3, and possibly, the Bulli.

I'll be at the 2012 New York International Auto Show in April, and I hope to see more examples of the global MQB platform. Volkswagen has lofty goals to sell about twice the number of cars it currently manufacturers worldwide. MQB is necessary in order for VW to achieve those goals.