"We build it an hour quicker!"

Production of the new Golf in Wolfsburg began already in summer. Currently it is on the socalled "ramp-up phase". The Golf 8 will be presented to the public this week. The first vehicles will be delivered to German and Austrian dealerships at the beginning of December. The eighth generation of Volkswagen’s successful model sets new standards – also in production.

Since 1974, when the first generation was introduced, over 35 million Golf models in various versions have been produced worldwide. 26 million of them at the Wolfsburg plant. In order to make production even more efficient, numerous production steps, in hundreds of workshops, were analyzed in detail.

No fewer than 72 suppliers come from Lower Saxony, underlining the importance of the bestseller for Northern Germany. A greater standardization of equipment and processes resulted in a reduced investment of more than half, required for a successful start-up, compared with the predecessor. The socalled "Modular Transverse Toolkit" (short: MQB, in German) is another reason for the low investment requirements: the Golf 8 actually belongs to the second generation of this product concept.

The total investment for the new Golf amounts to a mid-three-digit million euro amount. This enables the Wolfsburg plant to a maximum capacity of 450,000 vehicles of the Golf family per year.

By redesigning the so-called material supermarkets into narrower lanes, it has been possible to reduce staff distances and save 15 percent space. A major advantage of the new system is that 60 percent fewer forklifts are needed. From 2020, the materials from the supermarkets will mainly be assembled using driverless transportation systems.

For the first time, the vehicle's commissioning, for example the uploading of all data, is carried out fully automatically. It happens via fast WLAN connection during the running process on the line. In the past, employees used to upload the data at fixed stations. With the new method, Volkswagen can keep the production time constant as the volume of data increases. “With the Golf 8, the team in Wolfsburg showed all their skills. Overall, the production processes have become more efficient,” says Andreas Tostmann, Member of the Board of Management responsible for Production: “This is a strong achievement.”