New Volkswagen Golf here by June

Volkswagen has confirmed the all-new seventh-generation Golf will go on sale Down Under by June next year and will again be joined here by a wagon version.

The Mk7 Golf will be revealed for the first time in Berlin on September 4, before making its global public premiere at the Paris Motor Show in September.

Talking to motoring.com.au at a media briefing today, Volkswagen Group Australia Managing Director Anke Koeckler said the new Golf hatch will arrive here by mid-2013, featuring an all-new look, more efficient engines and new technologies.

“Golf 7 will come in the second quarter 2013,” said Ms Koeckler, who confirmed a new generation of the family-friendly Golf wagon is also Australia bound.

“Next year we will start first with the hatch, and the Golf wagon will be a model which is coming later.”

Ms Koeckler wouldn't say exactly when we'll see the Golf wagon, but the Golf hatch will again be the volume-seller and is already Volkswagen's most popular model in Australia, with almost 10,000 examples sold between January and July 2012.

However, year-on-year sales of the Golf have been dropped by around 10 around compared to 2011, so the new model launch can’t come soon enough for Volkswagen.

As we reported last week, Volkswagen has already begun its drip feed if Golf information ahead of its official reveal in Germany next week and its public debut in France later next month.

The headline numbers are weight savings of up to 100kg and a 23 per cent increase in efficiency for some models, thanks largely to its use of the VW group’s ground-breaking new MQB platform, which is so versatile it is expected to form the basis of as many as 60 transverse-engine models from the VW Group and, by 2018, as many as six million new cars per annum.

In the first in a series of private pre-reveal events in Wolfsburg last week, VW presented this teaser image and a video outlining some of the Golf’s advanced new technologies, including ‘Multicollision Brake’, ‘Speed Limited’, ‘Front transverse diff lock’ and ‘Progressive steering’.

According to the promotional video, the Golf 7 will also be available with luxury car features like an electric parking brake, cylinder deactivation, LED foglights, ambient lighting, a panoramic tilt/side sunroof, ‘Driving profile selection’, ‘Deluxe climate window’, Pre-Crash, adaptive cruise control, Lane Assist, Park Pilot, traffic sign detection, fatigue detection, city emergency braking, Park Assist 2 and run-flat tyres.

One of the engines that has been confirmed for the new Golf is a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine that outputs 103kW and will consume just 4.8L/100km of fuel when hooked up to a seven-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic gearbox.

Better yet, the next diesel-sipping Golf BlueMotion will come with claimed fuel consumption of just 3.2L/100km on the combined cycle, which is lower than most hybrid vehicles.

Hybrid and electric versions of the Golf are also in the works for European and American markets, but Ms Koeckler suggested we won't see any electrified VW vehicles here in the near future.

“For the time being, I think electric cars are not yet up to date... because of the standard of the batteries,” she said.

“And it's still too expensive for a customer to afford an electric car. So for the time being we will not expect a Volkswagen with an electric basis. Looking into the figures and the customer interest, (electric cars) are very minor.”

Ms Koeckler added that Volkswagen's current TSI and TDI engine technology was “so good” that there was no need for an electric or hybrid vehicle yet.

Despite being significantly lighter, the new Golf will be longer and wider. Boot space will grow 30 litres to bring the total to 380 litres, matching Ford’s Focus thanks to a 56mm-longer (4255mm) body and a 59mm-longer (2637mm) wheelbase.

It is 13mm wider but 28mm lower, meaning the only vital interior measurement to be reduced is headroom, while overall interior length grows 14mm, rear legroom 15mm, front shoulder room 31mm and rear shoulder room 31mm.

The body is 23kg lighter thanks to the use of ultra-high strength steel and tailored blanks, while weight has also been eked out of the engines, seats and wiring looms. VW proudly boasts the Golf uses no expensive aluminium body panels. The Mac strut/multi-link suspension has also been lightened, while a new speed-dependent variable steering system is part of the dynamic package.

As one of the world's most recognisable small cars, the Golf has found 29 million customers in 38 years, and has been a key part of Volkswagen Australia's growth in the past half-decade.

Locally, the Golf GTI has also been a big seller for the brand, and the all-new hot-hatch will make its debut after the regular hatch, possibly at the Paris Motor Show next month.

Power is expected to come from a lustier 165kW turbo-four petrol engine based on Audi's EA888 unit, but there’s no word yet on when the new GTI will hit Oz.

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