WOLFSBURG: A mid-life refresh for Volkswagen's popular hatchback, the VW Golf, is being set in motion with the Wolfsburg-based automobile company announcing that the "countdown has begun" to an early November reveal.
Reiterating its status as a top-of-the-pile hatchback, Volkswagen set the scene with some choice statistics - 32.5 million Golfs sold by the end of 2015, Generation X being referred to as "Generation Golf" in Germany, and so on.
But as industry analyst Jato Dynamics revealed in a separate but coinciding press release, the Golf's lead at the top of European sales rankings is lessening - Ford's Fiesta is currently only 5,559 units behind, year to date.
"Despite its historic dominance, the market leader will face significant challenges towards the end of the year as its rivals close in," Jato predicted.
The timing means that Volkswagen, like BMW, is opting to make one of its major fall announcements separate from grandstand motor show events; the LA Auto Show begins Nov 18, with the two-week Paris Motor Show running from the start of October.
