These images appear to be the closest thing yet to officially released pics of the new Volkswagen Golf. Scheduled for debut at the Paris Motor Show in October the Golf VI is expected to go on sale in Europe in 2009. If these are legitmate images then Volkswagen has certainly taken the safe route and followed the company’s renowned evolution pathway. Indeed, the jump from the Golf V to Golf VI is probably the smallest the company has taken. Even the step from Golf I to Golf II seemed more dramatic!
Coming only five years after the launch of the Golf V—the shortest Golf model cycle to date—changes are expected to be kept to a minimum. The current Golf V is a very well regarded car, with dependable and enthusiastic handling, coupled to some very sweet and economical engines. Think of the Golf VI as an improved Golf V that costs Volkswagen a bit less to make.
Volkswagen will be shifting all production of the Golf VI to the company’s headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. This means the Uitenhage plant in South Africa will no longer be used to source Australian bound models (three door GTIs and all R32 models are currently sourced from Wolfsburg). Australian deliveries of the next-gen Golf are expected in a little over 12 months from now. Following previous model rollouts the Golf VI GTI, with a revised 2-litre turbo four cylinder pumping out a reported 200kW, should be on sale in Australia by the third or fourth quarter in 2010.
More images below…
Source: The Car Lounge, autoblog & golfmk6.com
10 replies on “Is this the next Volkswagen Golf VI?”
Looks like the real deal to me.
Very conservative – I like the side profile of the 3 door, but the rear-end and interior leave me a little cold
It’s hard not to see this as being a bit ho hum TBH. The underlying character and mechanicals of the car might be awesome but VW are in danger of becoming seriously boring and uncool with this sort of design philosophy – I mean, who do they think they are Porsche?? : p
VW should have the balls to try something revolutionary and different otherwise they’ll become an irrelevance in a world full of Toyota look-alike. BMW might have trod on a few toes with its Chris Bangle inspired flame effect but there’s certainly something unique and contemporary about it and let’s face it, the flame effect is far more likely to make it to classic car status than the Toyota effect!
Sorry to be negative but if the answer to the lack of success of the Mark V (in financial terms at least) is to build a Mark V clone, then something’s up. And what’s with the grafting of the Scirocco front end with the Touareg back end look?
The 3dr profile is virtually the same as our Mk5 GTI. As you say, the progression is very conservative. That’s no bad thing though.
The interior looks very similar to the Mk5, and I understand the “cold” comments, but I really like the austere German interiors.
Agree on the rear end treatment, just not sure on those lights. Mind, as soon as they are released and on the streets they will make the old rear lights look out of date.
That’s the thing though Andrew, the Mk5 has been a slow but steady sales success. Especially in Australia. From a customer’s point of view, the Mk5 has been superb. Generally very well built and well specced. It was the perfect follow up to the Mk4, which was well built, but not so well specced and not so great to drive.
The Mk5 just cost Volkswagen too much to make, so, that the Mk6 appears to heavily rely on the Mk5 is neither a bad thing, or a surprise IMO.
In regards to your Bangle-BMW comments, which car in BMW’s range has always been treated the most conservatively? The 3 series. Which car is most important to BMW’s ongoing sales volume/success? The 3 series.
Volkswagen have been following the evolution design theory with the Golf for over 30 years now. Given the Golf is one of the highest selling cars of all time (if not the highest) with around 25 million sold, I reckon Volkswagen is probably right to stick to their current design philosophy.
Yeah but unfortunately it ends up looking lowest common denominator. It offends no one but in the process looks bland and soulless. Despite the fact that they’ve built the 3 series for the masses, it still looks sufficiently different and original from the previous iteration – it stands out, you can tell it has a soul and character just looking at it.
The current crop of Seats are a great example of contemporary design in the VW group – in fact, I reckon I’d pick the Seat Leon Cupra over a Golf any day.
The Golf is lowest common denominator, to a degree. That is what its success is built on. You know exactly what you are going to get when you buy a Golf. A solid, dependable volume selling car with class leading resale (or near to).
Volkswagen pretty much cornered the hatchback segment (in Europe at least) with the introduction of the Mk1 and, generally speaking, they’ve not really dropped the ball since. Only with the GTI model did they lose their way (Mk3 and Mk4), but that has been corrected brilliantly with the Mk5. Regular Mk3 and Mk4 Golfs were very good cars, and many still are.
Volkswagen does this segment well, the sales figures and customer loyalty don’t lie.
If you want something with more visual flair then Volkswagen has you covered with Seat. They can afford to experiment and be more daring with a low volume brand. Pretty smart marketing I reckon. If they were to Seat-ise the Golf in terms of exterior design, well, that would just be counter productive.
If the Golf wasn’t currently a great product that was selling quite well then your criticisms would be valid. Volkswagen doesn’t need to create a splash with the Golf just for the sake of not appearing “boring”. As it is, you have answered your own question with the Seat option.
I do wish Seats were sold in Australia, because they are very cool looking cars. Trouble is, despite Volkswagen’s ownership, many think Seat is cheap and nasty and for Australia’s small market it’s probably not a value proposition to try and reintroduce the brand.
Look at Renault–a more comparable brand to Seat than Volkswagen in some ways–a few years ago they were going on about how they would be selling 25,000 cars in Australia each year. And, well, erm that has gone spectacularly well for them hasn’t it.
Yeah but… no but… Volkswagen could have gone for a more “upmarket” and bold design, as reportedly that’s where they were headed before Winterkorn arrived.
It will be interesting to see over time how well the public reacts to the Winterkorn/De Silva design “simplification” process…
The opening post on golfmk6.com has some interesting tidbits (check the link at the end of the article above).
I dare suggest that the version is 5.5 not 6.0 when you look at both the appearance and the trim detailing…
All the same, best bring the new models out so our MKV’s go down in value! 😉
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