Though we got a preview of the sixth-generation Volkswagen Golf earlier this month, it took VW this long to get its act together and release the full gamut of official images and details. Volkswagen is sending a new Golf out into the world, the best of all times. The Golf is a phenomenon, regardless of its particular generation. Positioned in the compact class, this style icon defies all automotive and social class distinctions. No other car in this price segment has even come close to reaching as large a cross-section of people. The Golf is the only one that always fits right, and the new one is even better fitting. It was perfected in every detail. It is also the quest for perfection that has elevated the styling of the Golf to a new level. The team headed up by the Group's chief designer, the Italian Walter de Silva, has succeeded in giving the Golf a presence, a sharpness, a power that generates even more fun.
Fun to look at and fun to drive. An intelligent car. Data such as an average fuel consumption of 4.5 liters per 100 kilometers for a 110 PS TDI put fuel prices in their place. Above all, the car exhibits a standard of quality never before attained in this price class. The clear and powerful styling of the Golf being offered as a two-door and four-door in the "Trendline", "Comfort line" and "Highline" equipment lines is showing the entire brand the way to the future. The Volkswagen's acoustic properties and overall comfort tear down class distinctions. Innovative engine and transmission technologies reduce fuel consumption by up to 28 percent. All gasoline and diesel engines fulfill emission limits of the future Euro-5 standard. Assistance systems such as "ACC Automatic Distance Control" - as well as developments like "DCC Adaptive Chassis Control" (DCC) and "Park Assist" - bring additional top technologies to the Golf class. The exceptionally high value of the new Golf is reflected par excellence in its stylish design; all key body elements were redesigned: "We have cast the Golf's core components in a precise new mold", explains Walter de Silva.
Especially in a direct comparison of generations V and VI, it becomes evident just how much the new Golf has changed. The design team - headed up by Walter de Silva, Klaus Bischoff and the Group's director for creative design, Flavio Manzoni - crystallized out the Golf's essential DNA and sent it on a trip to the future. Style features include the clarity of the first generation's front end and the C-pillar that was perfected in the fourth generation. The roof section now rests - similar to the new Scirocco - on a prominently contoured shoulder section. Responsible for this is a dominant curved line that - like a muscle trained down to the last fiber - extends from the headlights back to the taillights. This side profile line - which Volks wagen Design calls the "character line" - also gives the Golf a fuller, lower stance on the road from a lateral perspective.
All body surfaces are more relaxed, more athletic. In front the new car adopts the radiator grille of the first Golf generation that is horizontally aligned between the headlights; the grille itself is in high-gloss black. The lines of the bumper match those of the radiator grille. Beneath this is a section with another air scoop. Also presented over a black background are the chrome light housings of the dynamically styled headlamps. The rear too is characterized by a predominance of horizontal lines. The taillights - now very wide - are marked among other things by an unmistakably unique night design. Stylistically, the crystal-clear line of turn signal and backup lamps bears a resemblance to the taillights of the Touareg. Overall, the new Golf - in the interplay of all of its design characteristics - gives the appearance of a significantly wider, flatter and higher end car. The car's exceptionally high value also applies to the newly designed interior, whose refined surfaces and features completely transform class distinctions, both to the touch and visually, especially in the cockpit area. There is a common thread here: Volkswagen's typical attention to perfection of every detail in the car.
