Golf Sportvan

FRANKFURT, Germany –

While the e-Up! and e-Golf (pure electric versions of the compact and city hatchbacks) garnered plenty of attention, Volkswagen also debuted the Golf Sportvan concept, a more commodious version of the Golf hatchback that replaces the former Golf Plus.

The Golf Sportvan (the name is only temporary) is one of those Volkswagen models that are for foreign buyers only. Longer than the outgoing Golf Plus and the seventh-generation four-door Golf hatch on which it is based, the Sportvan also gains a longer wheelbase than the new Golf, and is taller and wider to create more passenger and cargo room.

As a more practical and flexible alternative to a Volkswagen Tiguan crossover, the five-passenger Sportvan retains the Golf Plus’s “command” (taller) seating. The front passenger seat can fold forward and flat to store longer objects. Rear cargo space goes up 74 litres over the old Golf Plus’s 498 litres rating. Plus, the rear seats split and fold 60:40 and can slide back and forth by as much as 180 mm generating 87 litres more room.

To me, the Sportvan simply looks like a roomier Golf hatch, with a taller seating position to better blend in with SUV/crossover/pickup traffic. But currently, there are no plans to bring the Sportvan (or whatever it ends up being called) to Canada. So far, we’ll be getting the Golf hatches and Wagon models only when they start arriving in Canada in 2014. But what do you think? Would a Golf Sportvan make more sense for a growing family than the Golf Wagon?