Volkswagen Group A platform

The Volkswagen Group A platform is an automobile platform shared among compact and mid-size cars of the Volkswagen Group.

The first version debuted in 1974 and was originally based on the engineering concept of the Volkswagen Golf Mk1, and is applicable to either front- or four-wheel drive vehicles, using only front-mounted transverse engines.

Volkswagens based on this platform have been colloquially referred to by generation number, e.g. the first Golf version (A1) is referred to as a Mark 1 Golf." Often each generation is designated by substituting "Mark" for "A," but this can be misleading. For example, the Mk1 and Mk2 Scirocco are both based on the A1 platform. Furthermore, confusion was possible with the Volkswagen Passat, which has been produced on both the B platform alongside the Audi A4, as well as the A platform depending on the generation. Volkswagen has never used the Mark or Mk designations.

Volkswagen Group introduced a new alphanumeric nomenclature for vehicle platforms for the fourth generation. Under Volkswagen's revised platform naming system, the "A4" platform became the PQ34 platform, and what would have been called the A5 platform was called the PQ35 platform.

The platform code is composed as follows:

• A letter, P, indicating a passenger car platform
• A letter indicating the configuration of the engine:
  • Q indicates a transverse engine (Quer in German)
• A digit indicating the platform size or class:
  • 3 corresponds to compact cars
  • 4 corresponds to mid-size cars
• A digit indicating the generation or evolution

The A platform has been superseded by the MQB platform for new models, with the exception of a few models only sold in certain markets.