Volkswagen will launch its first mass-produced vehicle with an internet connection
next month, Associated Press (AP) reported.
The high-tech, multimedia Golf eGeneration will only be sold on-line and come
equipped with a mini computer, mobile telephone and MP3 player to get maximum
use out of its internet connection, VW said, according to AP.
"With this [car] it’s possible for the first time to check e-mail, do
banking, check directions or call up information about the weather, traffic
and the stock market while under way," Volkswagen said.
AP added that the new car, available in a German pilot marketing programme,
comes only in blue.
Volkswagen will begin selling the Golf eGeneration over the Internet on July
9 for a price of 43,908 marks (about $US19,300), about 4,000 marks ($US1,760)
more than a standard Golf without the high-tech gadgetry, AP said.
"Everybody talks about putting the internet in cars, but it’s a matter
of whether people will buy it," Volkswagen spokesman Hans-Gerd Bode told
AP.
"We will see how this project goes and decide our next step from there."
Volkswagen expects to sell 3,000 of the cars in its first batch, Bode added.
