With about a day to go before the big reveal, a few official photos of the all-new VW Golf have leaked out, with probably more to come in the next hours.
If you put any of these images into Google, it will say it's the Golf 7.5. It's pretty clear that they changed a lot of small things, but Volkswagen likes to keep things conservative. About 35 million of these hatchbacks have been made in the past four decades, and returning customers always play a big part.
The headlights are the easiest update to spot. They're not longer defined by a simple geometric shape and seem to borrow the exhaust LED projectors from the Arteon or Touareg. The lower grille is now one big unit that looks like a gentle smile but streamlined like on hybrids.
The profile is generally the same. In fact, the shape of the doors and side windows indicates that it's not a 100% new car, but that doesn't really bother us. Other things people might complain about is the lack of fog lights or the fact the lack of a gas strut to hold up the hood (speculation).
The interior hasn't been officially leaked yet, but we do have one clear shot of the 2020 Golf's dashboard right as it was being assembled. The double tablet screens are impossible to miss, as is the new VW Group design for the wheel, shifter or light switches.
Don't expect anything too wild in the powertrain department either. We think Volkswagen is going to show mild-hybrid versions of the 1-liter and 1.5-liter TSI gasoline engines with outputs carried over from the outgoing models (115 HP and 150 HP). Furthermore, it's possible they will offer a 2.0 TDI with 150 HP.
Even though VW is said to limit the number of variations, the new Golf still won't be as simple as a Toyota or Mazda equivalent. We believe the car will have a small diesel engine, several performance models including a 245 HP GTI and two plug-in hybrids.
Update: We now have a full photo gallery, including lots of shots of the interior and the Golf GTE plug-in hybrid, which looks sportier from the front and the back. Also, Auto Bild got to ride in a naked prototype.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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