New Golf Cabriolet goes topless at Geneva Motor Show

The world's been deprived of the Golf Cabriolet since Volkswagen axed the topless model in 2002, but it's back! The German automaker has released some tantalising new images of the convertible ahead of the Geneva Motor Show and it's a looker.

The car has the same face as the current Golf, but has a heavily raked windscreen that gives it a more sporty appearance and helps to channel air more smoothly across the four seats inside the cabin. The rear, meanwhile, gets its own distinctive flair thanks to LED lights and a crease along the bootlid.

Unlike previous models, which required the user to get out and fiddle with a mouldy piece of cloth when it rained, this new car packs a swanky electric roof that can be lowered in a relatively rapid 9.5 seconds -- even while the car is moving at speeds of up to 18mph.

The other major convertible bugbear -- luggage space -- appears to have been ironed out, too. The car packs 250 litres of boot space even with the roof down, which is about approximately 50 more litres than you get in a VW Beetle Cabriolet or Volvo C70 Cabrio.

The Golf Cabriolet will be available with a variety of engines. A 1.2-litre TSI 105PS, 1.4-litre TSI 160PS and 1.6-lire 105PS TDI will be available at launch. Later in the year, customers will also have the option of a 1.4-litre TSI 122PS, a more sporty 2-litre TSI 210PS and a 2-litre TDI with 140PS.

Volkswagen will start taking orders for the Golf Cabriolet in July with the first customer cars being delivered in September. Have a gander at the official pictures in our photo gallery above and check back soon for some hands-on impressions from Geneva.