Volkswagen Group A platform

The Volkswagen Group A platform is an automobile platform shared among compact and mid-size cars of the Volkswagen Group.

It was originally based on the engineering concept of the Volkswagen Golf Mk1, and is applicable to either front- or four-wheel drive vehicles, using only front-mounted transverse engines.

Volkswagens based on this platform have been referred to by generation number, ie. the first Golf version would be referred to as an "A1 Golf". A common substitute for the "A*" is to use the "Mk*" ("Mark") nomenclature to denote generation, however, this is a term coined by the motoring press, and is not official. For example, both the A1 and A2 Sciroccos are both based on the A1 platform.what

Under Volkswagen's revised platform naming system, the "A4" platform is now known as the PQ34 platform, and what would have been called the A5 platform is officially the PQ35 platform. The new nomenclature is derived as follows:

* P indicates a "passenger" car platform
* Q ("quer") indicates a "transverse engine"
* 3 indicates the platform "size" or "class"
* 5 indicates the "evolution" or "generation"

A1

A1 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* VW Golf Mk1/Rabbit Mk1/Cabriolet (17)
* VW Jetta Mk1 (17)
* Volkswagen Caddy (pickup truck) (14)
* VW Scirocco I (53)
* VW Scirocco II (53B)

A2

A2 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* Volkswagen Corrado (53I) (hybrid platform with B3)
* VW Golf Mk2 (19E)
* VW Jetta II (19E)
* (1L)

A3

A3 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* VW Golf Mk3/Cabrio (1H/1E)
* VW Jetta/Vento III (1H)

The A03 platform, used in the VW Polo (6N) and SEAT Ibiza (6K) is based on the A3 platform as well, and shares many components.

A4 (PQ34)

A4 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* (8L)
* Audi TT Mk1 (8N)
* VW Golf Mk4/VW R32 (1J)
* VW Bora/Jetta IV (1J)
* VW Lavida
* VW New Beetle (1C/1Y/9C)
* SEAT León Mk1 (1M)
* (1M)
* Škoda Octavia Mk1 (1U)

A5 (PQ35)

The PQ35 platform is designed to be more modular and flexible than previous A platforms. For the first time, a fully independent suspension will be present in all A platform vehicles. There is also a derivative version of this platform (with larger variations expected in the future) called PQ46.

PQ35 is intended for compact-size vehicles, and PQ46 is an enlarged version for mid-size vehicles, such as the VW Passat. A common misconception is that the PQ46 generation of the Passat is based on the "B6" platform. However, this transverse-engined Passat has little in common with the longitudinal-engined "B6" Audi A4.

Current and expected PQ35 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* 2003 (8P)
* 2003 Volkswagen Touran (1T)
* 2004 Volkswagen Caddy (2K)
* 2004 SEAT Altea (5P)
* 2004 Volkswagen Golf / GTI / R32 / Rabbit Mk5 (1K)
* 2005 Škoda Octavia Mk2 (1Z)
* 2005 Volkswagen Golf Plus (1K)
* 2005 (5P)
* 2006 Volkswagen Jetta / Vento / Bora Mk5 (1K)
* 2006 SEAT León Mk2 (1P)

* 2008 Volkswagen Tiguan (5N)
* 2008 Volkswagen Scirocco (13)
* 2009 Audi Q3

Current PQ46 platform cars ("Typ" numbers in brackets):
* 2006 Volkswagen Passat (3C)
* 2007 Volkswagen Eos (1F)
* 2008 Volkswagen Passat CC
* 2008 Skoda Superb II

ee also

* list of Volkswagen Group platforms

References

External links

* [http://www.volkswagenag.com/ Volkswagen Group corporate website]