Volkswagen Scirocco 2016 News

A number of potentially hazardous faults have been identified in vehicles sold in Australia, prompting a wide range of recalls.

VW to farewell third-generation Scirocco R with limited-build Wolfsburg Edition.

After more than two years of hopes and promises, VW Australia tells Carsguide the sleek Scirocco will hit showrooms in 2012. "Finally, it's happening. The Scirocco will be here in 2012," says Anke Koeckler, who took over the top job at VW Australia in July 2009. "It's been my ambition to bring Scirocco to Australia since I arrived, Australians will get their first chance to see the Scirocco in the metal at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne in July. The good news also gets better as Koeckler tells CarsGuide that VW will bring the Scirocco in the faster R spec only. Exact equipment levels and pricing are still being finalised, but  Carsguide understands specification will be similar to that of the Golf R, and the Scirocco could carry a price tag as low as $50,000. Australian fans of VW hot hatches have been crying out for the re-born Scirocco - a badge first seen in the 1970s - since it first launched in Europe in 2009. "We have received a lot of requests for the Scirocco, so it's great to now be able to do it," Koeckler says. She says the challenge has been finding a way to fit it alongside the Golf range, one of VW's core models in Australia. The Scirocco shares its basic mechanical structure with the Golf, but  has unique and more visually aggressive bodywork. It is 67mm lower,  35mm wider and 36mm longer than the Golf three-door, is 67kg lighter  than the all-wheel drive Golf R, and has a sportier suspension tune,  all of which is said to endow it with more performance-oriented  driving characteristics. In Europe, the Scirocco is available with a range of petrol and diesel engines, but VW Australia has only ever been interested in the GTi and R models, which share their 155kW and 199kW 2.0-litre, turbocharged  four-cylinder engines with similarly-badged Golf models. One crucial area of difference is the way the Scirocco R and Golf R  get their power down - the Golf R is all-wheel drive, the Scirocco R  is only front-wheel drive. While the Scirocco R has a green light for Australia, making a case  for the GTi was too hard. "The Golf GTI is a very successful model for us, and it did not make  sense to bring Scirocco GTI into that same space. As it was we had to make changes to the Golf R range to bring Scirocco in," Koeckler says. So Volkswagen is dropping the three-door Golf R model from its Australian range to make room for the three-door Scirocco R. VW is expected to sell the Scirocco R with a choice of six-speed manual and DSG automatic transmissions in Australia. Carsguide is unsure if the Scirocco R's turbocharged, four-cylinder  engine will be detuned from 195kW to 188kW for Australia, as is done  with the Golf R under a Volkswagen program to de-tune some engines for  hot-weather and 'extreme' countries.

The sales peak was previously hit in 1963, when the company sold around 32,000 vehicles - mostly Beetles with some Kombis. Volkswagen Australia's spokesman Karl Gehling says the brand was on target for a tally of close to 40,000 well before the end of the year. "We are going to achieve a record for Australia, as of this month (October) we have overtaken our previous record of around 32,000 with a couple of months to go. "We'll wait and see, I won't put a number on it," he says. While the 2010 number will be looking good for the German brand, the 2011 calendar has nine new or refreshed models turning up in VW dealerships, including the new Amarok light-commercial, the Touareg SUV, Passat sedan and wagon, the updated Eos convertible and the new Jetta. The Golf range will grow to include the frugal BlueMotion model early next year, but the BlueMotion catalogue could be expanded if the company sees demand for the frugal Passat BlueMotion passenger sedan. The model recently set a world record for covering more than 2400km on one tank of fuel, but the Australian arm of the German car maker has no immediate plans for Passat BlueMotion in Australia. What is coming is a new version of the Passat CC – and don't discount another Passat R model. Hanno Greuner, part of technical section of Project Management Team, says the R line is not yet extinct … "there will be something" … and there are highlights in the pipeline. "We have an R for the Golf, Scirocco … and I think the R is a perfect match for Passat." "Increased engine size can sometimes make it difficult to satisfy exhaust emission standards, I think it will be possible to use a smaller and more powerful engine, and more fuel efficient," he says. The evolution of the Golf R, from a V6 to a higher-boost turbo four, points to a smaller-capacity R-Series Passat with higher outputs and better economy and emissions. "I suspect we will get more downsizing in capacity and upsizing in power output," he says. Herr Greuner says the next Passat CC will follow the new family DNA styling sequence. "There is a VW design language and the next CC will speak that same language," he says, refusing to elaborate further.

So when the controversial host announced he had prepared his own spoof ad for the launch of the new Volkswagon Scirocco, the BBC prepared for the worst.

The two-door Golf-based coupe has a dream for VW fans for more than a year but there is still no chance of it happening. "We would love to have it here, but it isn't on our plan. In the short term, at least," Gehling says. The problems for the Scirocco are its price, the likelihood of small sales and a potential clash with the Golf GTi. Volkswagen also believes there is no point to a limited-edition R-Line Scirocco if it is not selling the regular car. "The R Line is very much the halo of each model line, and you expect that to have a flow-on effect. But if you don't have the whole range there is not a huge amount of point to doing it," Gehling says. "We may review it again in the future, but at the moment there is no plan."