VW Scirocco: An Audi TT-beater?

AutoExpress has an interesting article about a VW Golf GTI coupé, re-badging the Scirocco name, assuming that it's VW's Audi TT-beater.

olkswagen is building a Golf GTI coupé! Exclusive pictures in this week's mag expose the firm's plans to produce a new sports car, and bring back the Scirocco badge in the process.

Based on information from Auto Express sources in Germany, the mag's images reveal exactly what we have to look forward to. Delivering all the thrills of the Golf GTI in a more performance oriented package, the Scirocco will be VW's first fully fledged coupé since the Corrado was axed in 1996.

In issue 884, we revealed how top brass had let slip their plans in an official press release - and now we have uncovered all the details about the new coupé. In a statement issued about the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, bosses said: "VW's current model lines are simply one wave of a torrent of new cars. Further down the line, these will include a 2+2 coupé that harks to the heyday of the Scirocco."

This was an unsubtle hint at the car shown here. Surprisingly, it won't use the existing Golf's underpinnings. Engineers are already working on the next-generation car, and it's this that the Scirocco will share its chassis with.

While the original Scirocco fought it out with the Ford Capri, the all-new model will have a modern legend to challenge - Audi's next TT. For the first time, the premium marque looks set to produce a three-door hatchback version of its sportster, similar to the Shooting Brake concept revealed at the recent Tokyo Motor Show.

Our opinion: Not so fast! The Audi TT is and will be a design icon, totally incorporating the sense of a premium brand. The VW Scirocco has a different target group with a cheaper price and with a different history.

Audi TT