It’s not long now until we finally see the new seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf at the Paris motor show – and VW is planning to unveil the hatch at an event in early September.
But our artists have been beavering away using sources in Wolfsburg to create these latest – and last – renderings of the new Golf Mk7. They’re said to be very close to the finished article.
VW Golf Mk7: it’s not very different, is it?
Well, what did you expect? This is Golf Central, one of the bastions of cautious, conservative design to keep Middle England/Europe/Globe happy. Volkswagen has rarely been one to take aesthetic risks, especially with the bedrock of its range.
And when the Golf is so important in the company’s sales charts, why would it? Half of the world’s car makers are desperate to clone the Golf’s stout aspirational values, so it’s little surprise that there’s no massive leap from the Giugiaro-designed Mk1.
It’s a little longer, lower and wider than before and that wheelbase of the latest MQB architecture is stretched for improved interior space. Note the faster angle of the windscreen and the crisp surfacing, married to the latest VW family grilles and jewellery. It might not raise your pulse, but the new VW Golf is guaranteed to endure fashions and be a pillar of semi-premium values.
The tech in Volkswagen’s new 2013 Golf
The MQB platform stands for Modular Transverse Matrix, and we’ve seen it already in the new 2012 Audi A3. The hardware achieves several roles: it’s said to be some 30% quicker to build for Volkswagen’s factories around the world and it also allows a host more tech to be offered at affordable prices.
Each VW Golf will weigh some 40kg less than today’s model, despite the modest growth spurt. In fact, the new Golf Mk7 is likely to weigh the same as a 1997 Golf 4.
Engines will include:
• 1.2 petrol 84bhp or 104bhp
• 1.4 petrol 120bhp or 138bhp
• 1.6 TDI 89bhp
• 2.0 TDI 187bhp
And the gadgets available? The new Golf 7 ditches a manual parking brake for an electronic item, radar cruise control is offered, the headlamps can be specced to flick up and down automatically and it’ll even read road signs on your behalf. Executive gizmos in the mid-sized family hatchback market, then.
Click here for CAR’s technical preview of the new VW Golf Mk7