Volkswagen Golf SV prices revealed

The Volkswagen Golf SV will carry a £760 premium over the Volkswagen Golf hatchback – meaning it will cost the same as the Volkswagen Golf estate – when it goes on sale in the UK in May. The SV, which stands for SportsVan, was first revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, and offers added practicality over the standard VW Golf.

The SV is longer, wider and higher than the Golf, which gives it more interior space and improved practicality. However, it's also shorter than the VW Golf estate, to make it easier to park into tight spaces.

Flexibility is key, and the SV’s rear seats can slide forwards and backwards to give extra rear legroom or a maximum boot capacity of 598 litres – an impressive increase on the Golf hatchback’s 380-litre boot. The backseats also split 60:40 to increase capacity to 1,512 litres (compared to the standard car’s 1,295 litres). The SV can also be equipped with a front passenger seat that can fold fully forwards, allowing the SV to carry items up to 2,484 mm long.

Although bigger, the SV is based on the standard Golf and gets the same safety features, including an automatic post-collision braking system, which applies the brakes to minimise the risk of a secondary accident. The SV also gets PreCrash, which tensions the seatbelts and automatically closes the windows and sunroof – leaving just a small gap to maximise the effectiveness of the airbags.

Options will include adaptive cruise control, which keeps a safe distance from the car in front and matches its speed, plus Front Assist and City Emergency braking. The latter two can operate the brakes autonomously, when they sense an imminent collision, and work at speeds of up to 124mph.

The SV will share its engines with the rest of the VW Golf range, getting a choice of 1.4-litre petrol engines as well as 1.6-litre or 2.0-litre TDI diesel engines. The smaller diesel is currently fitted to the economical BlueMotion model, which qualifies for free road tax and is capable of 76.3mpg – so should make the SV extremely cheap to run. The SV also gets the Golf’s S, SE, GT and BlueMotion specification levels.

The Golf SV will replace the outgoing Volkswagen Golf Plus, which the company sold just 1,672 examples of in the UK last year – compared 57,715 Golf hatchbacks. Prices will range from around £17,500 for the VW Golf SV S to around £23,500 for the top-of-the-range 148bhp VW Golf SV GT. The first cars are expected to be delivered to their new owners in July.

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