It is effectively a reskin of the Mk5 rather than an all-new design; it was developed with engineering improvements to shorten the previous model's assembly time to save costs.

The VW Golf Cabriolet's styling follows that of its hard-top three-door counterpart, but it differs somewhat with a rear section, lower profile roofline and more swept-back angle of its front windscreen frame.

Unlike the regular Golf, the Cabriolet has LED rear lights, which are only available for the R and GTI versions of the hardtop.

In February 2012, Volkswagen announced that they would build a Cabriolet version of the GTI, powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.

[10] As of October 2016, VW announced that the Golf cabriolet will no longer be sold in the UK due to financial reasons.

The production version was expected to be based on new Mk6 Golf, featuring a 1.5 L turbodiesel engine and electric motor, with estimated arrival date of 2015.

It features a Firespark Metallic red body color with GTI stripes, high-gloss black 19-inch alloy spoke wheels, smoked LED taillights, a lowered chassis and a new sport exhaust.

Changes to the interior include aluminum tread plates, brushed aluminum trim and glossy black painted frames around the air vents, red bordered floor mats and black Nappa leather sport seats with red accents and "Berry White" leather piping.

[18] Once finally unveiled by Volkswagen at the Frankfurt IAA on 15 September 2009, it was confirmed the R32 replacement would simply be called the Golf R.[19] The Golf R is powered by a 1,984 cc (2.0 L; 121.1 cu in) FSI turbocharged Inline-four engine that produces 270 PS (266 bhp; 199 kW) at 6000 rpm and 350 N⋅m (258 lb⋅ft) at 2500-5000 rpm of torque.

[citation needed] On 9 December 2010 Volkswagen announced that the Golf R will be available in the United States beginning in 2012, in both two- and four-door versions were offered, but without the DSG transmission,[21] and with a slightly detuned engine producing 191 kW (256 hp) and 243 lb⋅ft (329 N⋅m).

VW Australia launched the new base model golf with 1.2-litre engine same as the new Polo in September 2010 and went on sale in 2011.

The sixth generation GTI began to be built locally for first time in March 2010 and used a different engine compared to Golf GTI model sold internationally, where a 2-litre TSI unit producing 149 kW (200 hp) was available as standard, 7.5 kW (10 hp) less than the original one.

In September 2012, a 5-door version in Comfortline trim, with 1.4 L TSI engine with 177 hp and 6-speed manual gearbox imported from Germany was added.

In Chile, the Golf Mk6 was presented in October 2010 at the XI Salón del Automóvil de Santiago, starting sales immediately.

He also stated they may bring in a more localized Golf with the same engine choices as the Vento when numbers stabilize in the near future.

In auto racing, APR Motorsport has led two MKVI VW GTIs to victory in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner (ST) class.

This Golf was equipped with a 2,500 cc five-cylinder turbo engine with 324 kW (441 PS; 434 hp) and 540 N⋅m (398 lbf⋅ft), permanent 4WD and a sequential six-speed gearbox.

For the 24 Hours, the team hoped for rain, and jokingly considered wetting the track by aerial firefighting.