Volkswagen Direct Shift Gearbox Becoming Increasingly Popular

Smooth gear change, swift acceleration and pure driving pleasure: These are the persuasive reasons why an ever growing number of customers are deciding in favour of Volkswagen’s Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG). Over 25,000 Golf and Touran models have already been manufactured featuring this innovative automatic system.

The DSG has been on offer with the Touran - Germany’s most successful van in the compact category - since as early as autumn 2003, and now complements the extensive range of gearbox options for the new Golf as of March this year. The Direct Shift Gearbox has since proven spectacularly successful, and around 10,000 new Golfs and over 15,000 Tourans have been manufactured with DSG as a much coveted feature.

The DSG is combined with the 1.9 l TDI 77 kW/105 HP and 2.0 l TDI 103 kW/140 HP variants of the Golf and Touran, two high-power, low-consumption turbodiesel models that are hugely popular. The advantages of the six-speed Direct Shift Gearbox over torque-converter automatics are improved consumption and smooth acceleration with uninterrupted traction. For the driver, this makes for sporty performance, economy and gear change comfort at the highest level.

Volkswagen has applied for over 70 patents relating to this gearbox technology, and the DSG system’s first market appearance was in 2003 with the Golf R32. "The DSG system is an absolute first in that it combines the best features of two gearbox worlds – namely manual and automatic – while retaining the advantage of lower fuel consumption offered by the economical TDI engines", says Falko Rudolph, Head of Gearbox Development at Volkswagen. "Automatic gearboxes will continue to gain popularity. We are firmly convinced that DSG is the automatic gearbox of the future!" The media agree on this: Last autumn Volkswagen was awarded the 2003 innovation prize by "AutoBild test&tuning" for the development and implementation of the Direct Shift Gearbox.

The Direct Shift Gearbox is produced at the Volkswagen gearbox plant in Kassel, the leading gearbox manufacturer and key component supplier for the Volkswagen Group worldwide. To date since production start-up in June 2003, almost 60,000 DSG systems have been produced there for the Golf, Touran, Audi TT, Audi A3, Seat Altea and Skoda Octavia. Daily production output is currently at around the 500 mark. Volkswagen has invested EUR 150 million in DSG production facilities, and around 330 of the approx. 15,000-strong workforce in Kassel are involved in the manufacture of this technological innovation.