Wörthersee 2013: Volkswagen Golf GTI Cabrio Austria

The Mk6 Golf GTI has been given a final swansong by thirteen of Volkswagen’s most talented apprentices. Decked out in the red and white colours of the Austrian flag the Golf GTI Cabriolet Austria has the go to match its show.

The one-off creation is powered by the 2.0 turbocharged engine you expect to see in a GTI, but it’s been tuned to produce 245kW. Inside the Cabrio has been enhanced with a custom interior as well.

World premiere in red-white-red: Volkswagen apprentices present Golf GTI Cabrio Austria at the Wörthersee Lake

• Junior talents from Wolfsburg and Osnabrück build open-air one-off model for GTI Festival in Austria

Wolfsburg/Reifnitz, 09 May 2013 – The Golf GTI Cabrio Austria with 333 PS (245 kW) is a twofold premiere: it is the first time Volkswagen apprentices have designed a cabriolet for the GTI Festival at the Wörthersee Lake in Austria and it is the first ever collaboration between junior talents from Wolfsburg and Osnabrück. Thirteen apprentices of four professions built a two-seater in red-white-red, the national colours of the host country. Today, they are presenting their sporty open-air car to GTI fans from across the world.

Automotive mechatronics technicians, vehicle interior fitters, technical model makers and paint technicians collaborated intensively for a year, from early sketches to a world premiere in Kärnten, Austria. The four women and nine men from 17 to 23 years of age redesigned a standard Golf GTI Cabriolet to their optical and technical specifications. The 2.0 liter engine generates 333 PS / 245 kW.

The apprentices realized their white-red colour concept with attention to detail on both the vehicle interior and exterior: they chose Oryx White mother-of-pearl effect for the Cabriolet, with Flash Red stripes bordering the bonnet left and right, and on the vehicle’s sides. The exterior mirrors are painted red, as are the brake callipers. The apprentices’ customized features further individualized the vehicle interior, for example the black-red-white Recaro sports seats with red “Austria” embroidering and red-white decorative trim, and white GTI lettering on the doors. The honeycomb mesh and air vent frames, the accented stitching on the leather steering wheel and the DSG gearbox’s boot are also in red, as are the seat belts. Even the floor mats have red bordering.

“I’ve learned a lot about project work, and how important team work is,” said the future automotive mechatronics technician Kevin Hoffmann when speaking about his time as a member of the Wörthersee team. Together with his colleague René Eichenlaub, he swapped the Cabrio’s rear seats for a sound system with eleven loud speakers with 2,250 watts output. The apprentices chosen for the team are among the best of their classes. Under the guidance of Project Manager Holger Schülke (Wolfsburg) and trainer Reinhard Bosse (Osnabrück), they planned the vehicle concept and created project plans. The young people selected diverse components from the Volkswagen Group’s range and negotiated with suppliers. The apprentices presented milestones of their “Wörthersee Project” to members of the Board of Management and coordinated with experts in the company, for example with designers. As a finishing touch, they christened their dream GTI Cabrio “Austria”.

Projects such as the Golf GTI Cabrio Austria allow Volkswagen to give its best apprentices an opportunity to extend their knowledge. The “Austria” is the sixth “Apprentices’ GTI” to celebrate its world premiere in Reifnitz at the Wörthersee Lake. Previous models drew large crowds at public events, for example at the “IdeenExpo” exhibition in Hanover.