There's good news this week for Golf-lovers with a tendency to carry a few extra clubs; we've scooped the estate version of VW's fifth-generation family hatchback, due to be shown at September's Frankfurt motor show, and to arrive in the UK shortly afterwards.
This is the car that VW insisted it would never make. Company insiders suggested that the role of a more practical Golf hatch would be filled by the tall-sided Golf Plus, and so there would be no need for an estate version. However, VW's more traditional customers have been bemoaning the lack of a conventional Golf wagon, putting pressure on VW dealers, and their pressure on VW has in turn brought about the car that Autocar's spy photographers caught on test this week.
The car will arrive in UK showrooms fully eighteen months behind its closest competitors (the Ford Focus Estate and Vauxhall Astra Estate), with petrol engines ranging from 1.6- to 2.0-litres, and both 1.9- and 2.0-litre TDI turbodiesels, and a choice of front- or four-wheel drive. It's likely to offer more cabin storage than the standard hatchback, as well as rear seats that fold totally flat to maximise load space. Prices should start at about £15k, rising to £19,500 for the 2.0-litre TDI Sport 4Motion, the likely range-topper.
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