THE 2009 GOLF VI may be less than a year old, but with an architecture based largely on the fifth generation Golf, an all-new model is expected to arrive much sooner than usual.

Recent spy images revealed that development of the 2012 Volkswagen Golf is well underway, and an unrelated VW promotional video last week revealed a glimpse of the new Golf's stying.

Created to promote Volkswagen's L1 concept, the video featured a scene that showed the carmaker's designers hard at work on the concept's clay model.

In the background, another team is seen working away on what is likely the body of the next generation Golf - if only in concept form for a future motor show.

Featuring styling cues in line with the company's new family look, the new Golf sports a more raked front windscreen and a sharper snout.

Adding credence to speculation that this footage showed the Golf VII in development, Volkswagen has since removed the scene from the video.

According to Brit-mag Auto Express, the seventh-generation Golf will be landing in Volkswagen showrooms sometime in 2012 - barely three years after the introduction of the Mk VI.

As is tradition, styling will be unmistakeably Golf; however mechanically and structurally the Mk VII is expected to usher in a number of radical changes for the volume-selling VeeDub.

A hybrid drivetrain is the biggest, with VW's Twin Drive tech likely to make its production debut in the Golf VII.

Using a fuel-sipping 1.5 litre diesel engine mated to three electric drive motors, the hybrid Golf will reportedly feature an electric-only mode for low speed crawls and also ship with a plug-in charging system for the onboard batteries.

The product of all this is a car that'll return an astounding 2.08 l/100km (113mpg) on the combined cycle.

A compression-ignition petrol motor is also rumoured to be on the cards for the new Golf, with the sparkplug-less motor supposedly combining the economy of a diesel with the performance of a petrol.

The HCCI engine, as it's being called, may also see use as an onboard generator for an all-electric driveline, thanks to its preference to run at a constant rpm.

Performance models such as the GTI as well as the torquey diesel variants may also benefit from a seventh ratio added to VW's ubiquitous twin-clutch DSG gearbox, which is currently limited to just six gears when paired to the gruntier engines.

Weight will also be shed with the next-gen Golf, improving fuel economy even further when combined with a range of smaller, thriftier motors.

We've yet to hear any official word from Volkswagen on the Golf VII, but we'll be keeping our ears to the wall on this one. Stay tuned.

[Auto Express]

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• reply ” like !

  

  Cupid Stunt says,
  4 years ago

  3years away - starting to look good similar to the Fiat Bravo starngely.
  As for the 113mpg - wooo hooo roll it on to bring the fuel robbers down on their knees.
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  Golf Dreamer says,
  4 years ago

  the specs and new tech introduced sounds very good!
  
  but... on a strong note with a weird look on face. The back design on the Mk VII is the killing point.
  
  Mk IV -VI has very good looking ***... which i find it very sexy. If this design is gonna be the final and end-product, that would be rather disappointing.
  
  Did VW Golf Designers go on a holiday or faced retrenchment?
• reply ” like !

  

  Joe says,
  4 years ago

  Golf Dreamer, i fail to see where they actually show any angle of the VII rear end for you to come to such conclusions.
  
  If you are in fact referring to the VII development mule then what you are looking at is actually a VI rear end.
• reply ” like !

  

  Jess says,
  4 years ago

  Wen I hear they are taking steps to lighten the car it's such a breath of fresh air. So many auto makers go the opposite more weight / more power, when they should be concentrating on making the cars lighter. A lighter car = better fuel economy, qicker acceleration, better dynamics and without the need of a gazillion kW's.
  
  If only the current R32 weighed between 1200-1300kg iinstead of it's porky 1500+kg it would of been the hot hatch of the decade and part of my garage.