7th generation Golf hits half million sales already.

The Golf’s success story enters the seventh generation as the car continues to inspire both customers and the specialist media. The Golf has been honoured with two dozen prestigious awards over the last twelve months. It was voted European “Car of the Year” and crowned “World Car of the Year 2013”. The new Golf also recently beat the competition in Japan, becoming the first imported car in the 34-year history of the country’s top award to claim the accolade and be named “Car of the Year 2013/2014 Japan” with a score that was streaks ahead of the field. Other awards include the “Golden Steering Wheel 2013”, the “Auto Trophy”, “Auto der Vernunft” (Car of Reason) and “Best cars of 2013”. Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, commented: “The Golf will remain the most important model and a powerful engine for the Volkswagen brand.”

The 500,000th latest-generation Golf will be delivered in a few days’ time just one year after the car was launched. And the bestseller has yet to make its debut in key countries such as China and the United States. Moreover, important derivatives in the Golf family are waiting in the wings: The new Golf Estate has just arrived in showrooms and will be followed next year by the Golf Sportsvan which Volkswagen premiered at the IAA in Frankfurt. There will also be innovative versions such as the e-Golf and the Golf Plug-in Hybrid. “We are delighted the Golf has got off to such a brilliant start and is enjoying such a positive reception from customers. That is first and foremost due to a committed team. Our people very definitely went the extra mile for the Golf and have done a great job,” Winterkorn added.

For years now, the Golf has been the best-selling car in Europe, enjoying this status in several individual countries and taking pole position, for example, in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Croatia, Luxemburg, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and, of course, its home market of Germany.

The first generation of the Volkswagen Golf went on display at dealers in May 1974 as the successor to the legendary Beetle and has continued its predecessor’s success story for almost 40 years. The Golf has lent its name to an entire vehicle class and has always been available in a range of variants. From the ultra-economical Golf TDI BlueMotion to the sporty GTI, from the three-door model to the estate version, Volkswagen has a Golf to suit every taste and need. That has convinced customers: Volkswagen celebrated the 30 millionth Golf in June 2013.

AUDI celebrate half Million TT's with Limited Edition

High performance 272PS Coupé and Roadster special edition commemorates global sales milestone

• TTS Limited Edition now available to order in Coupe and Roadster forms to mark 500,000 sales milestone
• Priced from £38,860 OTR and £42,320 respectively
• £5,665-worth of styling and equipment upgrades for a premium of £2,815 over ‘standard’ TTS equivalents

The most iconic Audi sports car ever that rapidly shot to stardom at its 1998 debut and has consistently  ever since has now been delivered to over 500,000 customers Worldwide.

To mark this milestone for the first generation TT, its acclaimed 2006 successor and the current, significantly revised model, a very special version of the 272PS TTS has just become available in very limited numbers. Priced from £38,860 OTR in Coupé form and £42,320 OTR as a Roadster, the new TTS Limited Edition will be delivered to just 500 customers worldwide, only 120 of which will be UK-based.

From the word go the TTS competition models set themselves apart through an Audi exclusive paint finish in Nimbus grey for Coupé models and Imola yellow for Roadsters. Both also feature a fixed rear spoiler in the style of the flagship TT RS, and an upgrade from the standard TTS 18-inch five parallel spoke design alloy wheel to a 19-inch five-arm rotor design.

Inside, special Impulse grey leather upholstery with the famous ‘baseball’ stitching in grey and yellow immediately marks them out, and a ‘1 of 500’ plaque in the door insert underlines their exclusivity. A raft of additional driver aids and entertainment extras also makes them even easier to live with. The list includes the technology package comprising DVD-based satellite navigation, a Bluetooth mobile phone interface and Audi Music Interface (AMI) iPod connection, plus a BOSE sound system upgrade, rear parking sensors, cruise control, light and rain sensors and an interior light package providing targeted illumination of specific areas such as the footwells and interior door handles.

Excellent foundations

These features further expand an already comprehensive equipment list which includes exclusive TTS body styling, a quad-tailpipe sports exhaust system, TTS sports suspension with Audi magnetic ride damper control, xenon headlamps with LED daytime running lights, electronic climate control, heated front sports seats and matt brushed aluminium inlays.

The TTS Limited Edition models carry a premium of £2,815 over their ‘standard’ TTS equivalents, and taking into account their additional equipment this equates to a customer saving of around £5,665 compared with specifying the various items individually.

In the TTS Limited Edition Coupé the 2.0-litre TFSI engine with its 272PS and peak torque of 350Nm is linked to either six-speed manual or six-speed S tronic twin-clutch transmissions. Equipped with the latter, it can touch 62mph from rest after just 5.3 seconds and reach a governed top speed of 155mph, and offers 36.7mpg economy potential with CO2 emissions of 179g/km.

The production of the 500,000th Audi TT underscores the success of the compact sports car, which debuted as a Coupé in 1998 and as a Roadster the year after. The TT set standards not only for its design purity but also for its technology, which included ‘downsized’ turbocharged engines, quattro all-wheel drive for the high-end models and the six-speed S tronic transmission, which debuted in the range in 2003.

The second generation model, which followed in 2006, marked the first time that Audi succeeded in reversing the weight spiral. Thanks to its ASF (Audi Space Frame) body, which is made predominantly of aluminium, the new version weighs as much as 90 kilograms less than its predecessor. The low weight enables strong performance with very low fuel consumption. Another Audi innovation was the TT 2.0 TDI quattro: the world’s first premium-segment sports car with a powerful diesel engine and all-wheel drive.