The fifth generation Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (VW Typ 1K), built on the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003 and went on sale in Europe one month later. To commemorate this, Wolfsburg was renamed "Golfsburg" for a week. It reached North American markets in June 2006 rebadged with the revived Rabbit nameplate. Most print ads for the Rabbit show the old badge (a running rabbit) with the phrase "It'...
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The fifth generation Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (VW Typ 1K), built on the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in October 2003 and went on sale in Europe one month later. To commemorate this, Wolfsburg was renamed "Golfsburg" for a week. It reached North American markets in June 2006 rebadged with the revived Rabbit nameplate. Most print ads for the Rabbit show the old badge (a running rabbit) 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 take on the cliche "multiplying like rabbits".
In North America, where SEAT and Škoda are not marketed, Volkswagen sought to revive their image on that continent as a value brand, and the pricing of the new Rabbit was a part of that strategy.
The Mk5 was replaced in 2009 by the Mk6 in Europe. The U.S. may expect to see the Mk6 by 2010.
While the interior quality of the previous Volkswagen Golf Mk4 startled...
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