Volkswagen Golf GTI 5 door

[/caption]The fifth generation Golf was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October of 2003 and went on sale in Europe one month later. It was not released in the United States until January of 2006, however, and then only in GTI form through the spring of 2006. For the presentation of the new Golf, Wolfsburg was renamed “Golfsburg” for a week. Before the North American launch of the Golf in June of 2006, Volkswagen of America announced the decision to rebrand the Golf and return the Rabbit nameplate to the U.S. and Canadian markets. It continues to be sold in Europe as Golf. Volkswagen of America is promoting the cost economy and native manufacture in Wolfsburg, Germany. Most print ads for the Rabbit show the old Rabbit badge (a running rabbit, commonly recognized by most Americans) with the phrase “It’s back, at $14,990.” TV ads show Rabbits chasing after each other with their numbers increasing until they fill the streets of a city, a sort of double entendre on the phrase “multiplying like rabbits”.

Design and engineering

While the interior quality of the previous model startled rivals and led most of them to up their game in revised/replacement models, the astonishing chassis and all round ability of the Mk I Ford Focus startled Volkswagen (and indeed other rivals). In order to counter criticisms of the average dynamics of the previous model, it is widely reputed that Volkswagen poached from Ford the engineering team who designed the multi-link ‘control blade’ rear suspension system of the Ford Focus, widely regarded as the class benchmark for ride and handling. Indeed, the rear suspension of Golf V (a modified wishbone arrangement) bears an uncanny resemblance to that of the Focus.