VOLKSWAGEN'S long-awaited Golf will make its right-hand-drive debut at the Fleet Motor Show in May to coincide with the start of UK availability. After months of speculation about delays and production problems, the manufacturer has finally confirmed that dealers will open their order books in April.

Initial right-hand-drive production started at Volkswagen's Mosel plant this week, but the factory is not expected to reach maximum capacity for several weeks. The company has diverted Polo production exclusively to its Pamplona plant and delayed the introduction of the Lupo microcar, Golf estate and Polo facelift across Europe to free more production resources for Golf hatch.

Volkswagen fleet marketing manager Chris Hawken said: 'Volkswagen is taking the supply situation very seriously, but it's not unique to the UK, all markets are experiencing overwhelming demand and very tight supply. The problem is that we are trying to hit Mercedes standards of build quality on a volume production basis and it isn't the sort of target you can achieve overnight.'