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VW Golf Mk7 (2012): mule spy photos
By
Georg Kacher
Spyshots
05 February 2010 14:45
The new Volkswagen Golf Mk7 is nearer than you think. Although the Golf Mk6 only arrived in late 2008, CAR understands the new, seventh-generation VW Golf lands in September 2012, with a raft of new engines and bodystyles.
The VW Golf is the sweetspot of the Volkswagen range; get it right, and the entire group will thrive. Get it wrong, and the balance sheets will be blotched with red ink. It does therefore not come as a surprise that chairman Martin Winterkorn, R&D chief Ulrich Hackenberg and design supremo Walter de Silva want to make 100% sure that the next Golf is spot-on.
A few days after the 2009 Frankfurt motor show, the number of proposals was reduced from three to two. VW has almost certainly now crowned a winner. CAR's spies up in Scandinavia this week papped this Golf engineering mule, whose wider track points to this being a development hack for the new, bigger Golf Mk7.
Martin Winterkorn on the new VW Golf Mk7
Herr Winterkorn whet CAR's appetite with a few nuggets on the next Golf. 'The modular transverse matrix opens a new set of opportunities,' he told us. 'By being significantly more space-efficient, MQB offers distinct packaging advantages – which in turn will directly influence the shape of the car. Don't worry: the next Golf will again be instantly recognisable as a Golf. But it will also push out the envelope in a way no previous transition from one model generation to the next has done.'
The Golf Mk7 range will continue very much as today's. The CC coupe-cabriolet with folding hard top is on ice, but a cheaper Golf cabrio is expected in 2014. The Scirocco has been deemed a success, and the three-door Golf may become a sleeker, more coupé-ish derivative. We publish the full roll-out on page two of this article.
The MQB hardware underneath the new Golf Mk7 enables shorter overhangs, a longer wheelbase and a more advanced silhouette, including a more raked windscreen and more upright back window. They're not going to muck up the Golf style, however. Trad chunky C-pillars and geometric lines will continue for that iconic look.
How big is the new VW Golf? Supersized like most newcomers?
Three wheelbases are planned, lightly stretched over today's Golf: short (2630mm) for the hatchbacks, midsize (2680mm) for Jetta, Tiguan and Golf Variant, long (2790mm) for Touran and Tiguan XL (USA and China only). Lugagge capacity increases accordingly, from 405 litres in the Golf to 455 litres in the Golf Plus to 505 litres in the Golf Variant estate.
Within the MQB architecture, there exist three different components sets tailormade for Polo, Golf and Passat. Each components set is subdivided into five modules labelled drivetrain, chassis, electrics/electronics, body and interior.
>> Find out what that means to the new 2012 VW Golf Mk7 by clicking 'Next'
