Following the leaked images from earlier this week Volkswagen has released official information about the new Golf VI. The images have also been released in higher resolution and 2000px super images can be accessed by clicking on the images in this article.
As expected the importance of the new Golf has not been lost by Prof Dr Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen AG Chairman, and he claims the VI will raise the bar again for its market segment, “This sixth generation of Golf cars will completely redefine the quality and comfort level of its class over broad categories, offering more customer value than ever before.â€
Volkswagen says fuel consumption across the board has been reduced by up to 28 per cent, with emissions now meeting Euro-5 standards. New technologies, such as automatic distance control and park steering assistant have been introduced. Revised ESP systems help increase safety capabilities, along with seven-aribags and daytime running lights as standard. Volkswagen also says big improvements have been made to reduce interior noise through the likes of new door seals, special windscreens and reworked wing mirrors.
Revised diesel engines will now use common rail injection and all diesel Golfs will be fitted with a particulate filter. Petrol powered engines have reduced fuel consumption, with all engines at launch having quoted consumption figures under 6.5l/100kms (with the exception of the normally aspirated 1.6-litre at 7.1l/100km). Conventional automatics have been completely replaced with re-worked DSG trasmissions.
While stating the bleeding obvious, the Golf is Volkswagen’s most important model, and the aim with the VI is to reduce manufacturing costs over the previous Golf V. The necessity to do this brought the release of the Golf VI forward by around two years and it remains to be seen if the measures put in place by Volkswagen will achieve their ultimate aims. They will certainly sell plenty of them, they just need to hope their return on investment meets their expectations. One could consider this more of a Golf V.5, rather than a completely new model, however, Volkswagen knows they cannot afford to drop the ball with the Golf and the changes and improvements made appear to be a step in the right direction. Some consider the styling of the Golf to be boring and unimaginative, although, as an unabashed fan of teutonic design, the more I look the Golf VI the more I begin to appreciate the revisions made. The more angular and sharper look is a solid improvement over the Golf V.
So far, at least, the Golf VI has the AUSmotive seal of approval. I can’t wait to get behind the wheel. Barring any unforseen overseas junkets, that will have to wait until around this time next year when the Golf VI is expected to be on sale in Australia. The Golf VI GTI should arrive here sometime before July 2010.
Full details of Volkswagen’s release, along with more images, can be viewed after the jump.
Update 15 January: Expect the Golf VI to have its Australian launch at the Melbourne International Motor Show (27 February–9 March).
