The Mark VII Golf is due for unveiling on September 4, and as the volume leader, a lot is riding on it. The car likely won't arrive in the U.S. market until sometime in 2014, however, as the current car will be sold throughout 2013, a VW spokesperson revealed, Automotive News reported.
The lower weight will also help the Golf improve its fuel economy, which is becoming a major concern for buyers and governments in order to reduce pollution. VW said the new car will produce 13.9 percent less carbon dioxide.
AutoCar writes the car will be larger than the current one, with a 2.2-inch increase in length, be half an inch wider but will sit 1.1 inches lower. The wheelbase will be 2.3 inches longer and the front and rear tracks also slightly wider.
The car will also get an electronic parking brake. Other features traditionally found in luxury cars that will trickle down to the seventh-gen Golf include adaptive cruise control with an emergency braking function, lane assist, fatigue detection, and traffic sign detection.
Aluminum suspension components will help shed weight too, as will lighter engines.
Enthusiasts will need to wait a little longer to see the seventh-generation GTI, which is due to come out at the Paris show on September 27. It will reportedly get a 222-horsepower version of the direct injection, turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four.
