VW Golf cabriolet here by spring

The all-new four-seater softtop is unveiled this week in Europe, just ahead of summer, and is likely to make it down under in time for our next spring.

It will be sold here alongside the hardtop EOS convertible, although there is still no firm date on the plan to expand the Volkswagen sporty group with the two-door Scirocco coupe. Volkswagen benched the Cabriolet while it concentrated on the EOS but the company now says there is customer demand for a pair of open-top contenders from the company.

The EOS is also set for a tweak this year, including a new 'family' look at the front. "There is definitely space for both cars. It's a different sort of car for different buyers. It's a different positioning between the hardtop and the soft-top," says Karl Gehling, spokesman for Volkswagen Australia.

"There was a European update of the EOS, adopting the new family face, and we'll see that around the middle of this car. It's prior to the Cabriolet arriving." The new Cabriolet is based on the sixth-generation Golf and, although it is slightly smaller overall than the EOS, Volkswagen says it still has adequate interior space for four passengers with a workable boot.

The roof is an electric softtop design, to save space and cutweight. It can be raised or lowered in just 9.5 seconds, even when the car is being drive at up to 30km/h. Noise suppression work includes a two-layer top and special door and window seals.

On the safety front, the droptop has active rollover protection in addition to ESP stability control, ABS brakes and an airbag package that includes the driver's knees. The Cabriolet has the familiar Volkswagen look to the front end, with a more raked-back windscreen than the Golf.

To maintain the Golf's safety, and avoid any top-down wobbles, the Cabriolet gets a reinforced window frame and strengthening in the underbody, side panels, cross-members and doors. "We'll see it later this year," says Gehling. "It's taking us back to what has been quite a classic Volkswagen model."