2015 VW Golf SportWagen Will Go on Sale Next Year

Reflecting the relatively recent divergence of the VW Golf and Jetta families, Volkswagen will introduce its new compact cargo-hauler at the New York International Auto Show as the 2015 VW Golf SportWagen. As you might guess, it's built on the same new modular architecture that underpins the 2015 VW Golf—and an increasing array of other Volkswagen Group products—and will offer two of the automaker's new powerplants for motivation.

The standard 2015 VW Golf SportWagen will sport a turbocharged and direct-injected four-cylinder engine that serves up 170 hp and 184 lb.-ft. of torque; that's the same amount of horsepower as in the current Jetta SportWagen, but with a 7 additional lb.-ft. of torque as well as peak outputs that comes noticeably earlier in the new car's powerband. Volkswagen also will continue to offer a diesel option in its small station wagon, again leveraging the brand's TSI induction/injection technologies for improved performance and efficiency for TDI fans.

VW upgrades functionality, too, thanks to the modified proportions of the 2015 VW Golf SportWagen. Longer, wider and lower than the 2014 model, the Golf wagon still manages to squeeze in an extra .4 inches worth of front and rear headroom, while growing cargo capacity by about 10 percent with the back seats folded flat. Now, the automaker didn't provide new specs for the new vehicle, but some basic math turns up a new total of roughly 73.5 cubic feet of space. To put that into context, the 2014 Ford Escape provides 67.8 cubic feet of maximum cargo room.

In terms of its new appearance, well, the 2015 VW Golf SportWagen will look a lot like a new Golf with a bigger, longer greenhouse, yet as noted by Volkswagen: "The design team, led by Walter de Silva (Group Design) and Klaus Bischoff (VW Brand Design), created a timeless and sophisticated new SportWagen," that relies on what Bischoff describes as a "cab-backward impression."

"That's what we call the proportions of premium-class vehicles," he explained, "where the hood is long and the passenger compartment is a long way towards the back."

Exactly how premium the pricing of the 2015 VW Golf SportWagen will be still remains to be seen, with Volkswagen sure to provide more info ahead of the vehicle’s U.S. launch in the first quarter of next year.