VW speeds up production of next generation Golf

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> will start deliveries of its new Golf hatchback in December after shaving an hour off the time needed to build its flagship model, the board member responsible for production at the VW brand said on Tuesday.

Volkswagen's main factory in Wolfsburg, Germany is preparing to make 450,000 Golf cars a year with the manufacturing time of the eighth-generation model sped up by one hour per vehicle, Andreas Tostmann told journalists in a call.

Because VW is able to re-use 80% of the tooling for its new model, VW will invest a midsized triple-digit million euros amount in overhauling production, the carmaker said.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor, editing by Thomas Escritt)