Volkswagen Polo to grow

The next version of the big-selling Volkswagen Polo will have far more interior legroom when it arrives in 2017.

The company's second-biggest selling vehicle will move late this year from its current PQ26 underbody architecture to the smallest A0 (A-Zero) version of the Golf's MQB chassis at a stroke delivering an 80mm stretch in its wheelbase.

The new platform will also underpin the company's next compact SUV, T-Cross, which could be a huge-seller for the brand and is being considered for Australia. It's expected to be previewed at the 2016 Geneva motor show next month.

The Polo's longer wheelbase will mostly be dedicated to the car's interior and, more specifically, the rear seat and cargo area. Despite the growth, it's expected the car's weight will remain at a similar level.

VW's Polo will also switch to the same 2560mm wheelbase for both its three- and five-door Polo variants in an effort to reduce the complexity of building the car. Its offshoots at Volkswagen Group stable-mates, Audi, Seat and Skoda, will also benefit.

Where the Golf's MQB A1 architecture supports five different wheelbases, it will save Volkswagen millions to switch the MQB A0 to a single wheelbase, then fit the Audi A1, the Skoda Fabia and the Seat Ibiza on to it.

Admitting the shift to a single wheelbase wasn't an easy one, Volkswagen's head of compact car development, Dr Jochen Böhle, insisted it would reap benefits across the Group.

"The next Polo will be MQB A0 (A Zero), not PQ26. There were several pushes from the brands for something different but we had a strong fighter with me and [now retired] Dr Hackenberg and he pushed them all the way to have just one," Dr Böhle explained.

"The PQ26 has already a lot of components from the MQB, like the autonomous braking and driver assistance systems."

Dr Böhle also confirmed the company's new compact SUV, T-Cross, to be shown in concept form at the 2016 Geneva motor show in early March, will be based on the same A0 platform as the bigger, smarter new Polo.

"The T-Cross will also be off the next Polo's A0 platform."

In another sleight of manufacturing hand, the VW Group will use the next generational change in its cars to shift to building as many similar wheelbases in each plant as possible. It's a major shift from an organization that built cars at their respective brand factories, with a few notable exceptions.

"We are planning multi-brand factories so that we can do all the different cars with the same wheelbase in the same place," admitted Böhle.