The Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet is back, having been absent from the Golf range since the “Mk3.5 Cabrio” which was essentially a Mk3 soft top with the Mk4′s appearance. These are the first images of the Golf Cabriolet that will make its public debut at next week’s Geneva show.

Measuring 4,215 mm in length, 1,779 mm in width and 1,424 mm in height the two-door, four-seater Golf Cabriolet is longer than the 4,199 mm 5dr Golf hatchback. It is however 208 mm shorter than the Eos, although both cabrios share the same 2,578 mm wheelbase.

But unlike the folding metal roofed Eos, the Golf Cabrio comes with an electrically-powered soft top. The fabric covering can be lowered in just 9.5 seconds and is operable on the move at speeds of up to 30 km/h. The roof design has an additional exterior skin, as well as new window and door seals to aid refinement and noise levels. The heated rear windscreen is integrated in the soft top with high frequency welding. With the roof down, there is 250 litres of available space, 100 less than the hatch.

Design wise, the Cabrio is unmistakeably Golf from the front but the windscreen is more raked here. A choice of six engines will be available: three from launch (1.2 TSI 105 PS, 1.4 TSI 160 PS, 1.6 TDI 105 PS) and another three on the way (1.4 TSI 122 PS, 2.0 TSI 210 PS and a 2.0 TDI 140 PS). BlueMotion Technology mods will be applied to the diesel engines.

Hi res gallery after the jump.
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The Volkswagen Golf GTI has been the hot yuppie machine for quite some time now, combining class, performance and practicality in one handsome package. There could be some who want all that with a boot though, and for them VW has the Jetta GLI. This is the 2012 Jetta GLI, the hot version of the Mk6 Golf based sedan that was launched mid last year.

The Jetta has grown in size. Compared to its Mk5 Golf based predecessor, this car is 86 mm longer to make 4.64 metres and the familiar 2,578 mm wheelbase of the Golf has been extended to 2,650 mm to better match C-segment rivals.

Unlike the previous gen, this Jetta GLI doesn’t look 100% identical to the GTI from the front, just like how the standard Jetta differs from the Golf. One can spot a GLI from its more prominent grille and bigger air intake, plus vertical fog lamps. Of course there’s the ‘GLI’ badge.

The GLI is powered by a 200 hp/280 Nm turbocharged four-pot, the same engine that powers the GTI in the US. This is not the old EA113 of the Mk5 but the latest EA888 engine without valvelift, presumably detuned to meet strict emission standards. A six-speed manual gearbox is standard; DSG with steering paddles is an option.

One key difference under the skin between the US and European Jetta is that the former comes with torsion beam rear suspension while Europeans get multi links. This is not the case for the North American Jetta GLI, which comes with “track tuned four-way independent performance suspension”, which should revert to a multi-link setup. Other GLI specific kit include an XDS e-diff and red brake calipers.

The cabin has sport bucket seats and a flat-bottom steering wheel, all with red stitching. There’s also the GLI logo and aluminum accents for the full effect. Customers can choose cloth or V-Tex Leatherette for the interior. Jetta GLI ‘Autobahn’ variants also come with a Fender Premium Audio System featuring proprietary Panasonic speaker technology. Read more about the sound system here.

Have you noticed that that although it looks familiar, the Jetta’s dash differs slightly from the Golf’s. The sedan’s centre console is grouped for a more driver focused “cockpit” feel and the angle of the centre stack is tilted slightly towards the driver.

Look after the jump for a video and gallery of the GLI.
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This is the new Volkswagen Golf24, which Volkswagen will be racing in the Nürburgring 24-hour race in 2011, and it’s much more than just a hardcore tuned up Golf R. No, the Golf24 gains one cylinder over whatever’s been available in the Mk6 series of Volkswagen Golf so far (except for the US Golf of course).

It’t not as hardcore as mounting a W12 engine in the rear like the Golf GTI W12 650 Concept, but the engine bay of the Golf24 has been equipped with a 2.5 litre inline-5 turbo engine, probably a similar unit to the one found in the Audi TT-RS. In race tune, it makes a massive 440 PS and 540Nm of torque, putting all that power to all four wheels via permanent four wheel drive and a sequential 6-speed paddle shift box.

The Golf24 will hit the 25km racetrack in June this year, but it has already being tested since late last year, with the most recent test conducted in Italy at the Vallelunga circuit. If you have a VW Golf and you’ve stretched your 4-pot to the maximum it can take already, perhaps this is an idea for an engine transplant?

Volkswagen’s Tiguan compact SUV has been given a mid-life facelift, and the first photos of the revised 4WD vehicle have been revealed ahead of the its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Sporting a new front end defined by horizontal lines to bring it into line with the current VW design DNA, the new Tiguan looks sharper and sleeker than the current model, so says the company, which adds that further details about the vehicle will be announced closer to Geneva.

Advance sales of the new Tiguan have already begun in Germany – earlier than initially planned – due to sustained high demand for the previous model, which has sold out. Despite numerous improvements, the great news is that – in Europe at least – the vehicle is still priced at the same level as the previous model.

While it hasn’t quite peppered the streets here, the Tiguan is a definite volume seller in many places – in Germany, its average market share in the compact SUV segment grew to 21% last year, and globally, a total of 572,000 Tiguans have been delivered since it was first launched in autumn 2007.

Gallery after the jump.
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So you have money. Lots of money. You want to dress your SUV up, but think shiny plastic or carbon-fibre bits are downright el cheapo. Bling? Surely, but with far more class, more exuberance, more glitter.

Well, how about the Touareg Gold Edition then? Volskwagen have come up with a concept study of the SUV, dressing up select bits with the shiny stuff, plated in 24-carat, no less. The vehicle made its debut in Qatar, surely as good a place as any to do so.

On the outside, the glitter goes on custom-designed 22-inch wheels, roof rails, protective guard strips and window frames, mirror caps and parts of the air intake frame, the ‘Touareg V8′ badge and boot sill trim.

Inside, the 24-carat treatment continues with the car’s accents and switches, providing the cabin with lots of suitable distraction. Plenty of craftsmanship to be found in the Walnut Burr accents, with their genuine gold marquetry crafted into an ornamental pattern.

The interior gets a mixture of Nappa leather seats – and Alcantara roofliner – in a shade called Luna and natural brown leather for the dashboard, with contrasting seams for the latter in a Magnolia shade. The Gold Edition’s exterior is finished in what is called Magic Morning.

VW haven’t mucked around with the mechanicals on this one, so it’s pretty practical (!), but you’ve definitely got to be careful where you park it, for sure, not to mention worrying about attracting the wrong kind of attention as you merrily drive along.

All that glitters after the jump.
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Doesn’t feel like the Mk6 Golf has been around for very long, after all the Golf TSI was just launched in Malaysia, bringing the entry price point into Golf ownership and the whole Volkswagen downsized turbocharged twin-clutch experience lower for us heavily taxed folks. But Volkswagen is already planning the 7th-generation Golf, and it’s set to be launched sometime in late 2012 or early 2013.

Volkswagen will retire its collection of different-sized front engine, front-wheel-drive platforms (PQ25, PQ35, and PQ46) for a new set of components called the MQB platform, which is German for Modular Transverse Matrix (Modularer Querbaukasten). MQB allows Volkswagen to design various different transverse front engine front wheel drive vehicles using the same component matrix, picked and mixed in a Lego-like fashion.

MQB also has a ‘sister platform’ called MLB (Modularer Langsbaukasten or Modular Longitudinal Matrix)) which is used in Volkswagen Group cars with longitudinal engines, like the Audi A4 and Q5.

The Mk7 Golf will likely have interior space improvements as MQB is reportedly significantly more space-efficient compared to the PQ range of platforms, and it should also line Volkswagen’s coffers more handsomely than the Mk5 and the Mk6 thanks to MQB cars on average being 20% cheaper to produce by design.

The space gained can also be used to fit the extra components needed for a hybrid version of the Golf. Word is that the Mk7 Golf will bring the Golf’s wheelbase up from the Mk5 and Mk6′s 2,578mm to around 2,630mm.

It seems there’s already one MQB-based vehicle out there – the new Volkswagen Sharan launched in the first half of 2010. The platform is quite versatile, being able to be used for a big “XL-sized” Sharan as well as a compact “M-sized” Golf.

Renderings by Theophilus Chin.