Next-generation VW small-car platform to offer all-wheel drive

Volkswagen's next small-car platform -- dubbed PQ25 -- will offer the possibility of all-wheel drive, a new report finds. VW's current small-car platform underpins the VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia, and will soon be used in the upcoming Audi A1 small-car.

However, not all cars riding on the platform will offer AWD. "The new small-car platform architecture includes an all-wheel drive option," Erich Schmitt, president of Seat, told Automotive News. "Seat won't offer awd for its new Ibiza, but other group models could use it."

The new platform will bow in the next-generation Seat Ibiza, followed by the all-new VW Polo later this year. The PQ25 is also slated to underpin the Audi A1 in late 2009.

It remains unclear if the next Skoda Fabia will offer an AWD option, but the VW Polo and Audi A1 are all but guaranteed the option -- especially considering Audi's all-wheel drive reputation.