One of the first derivatives of the seventh generation Volkswagen Golf family after the launch of the three- and five-door hatchbacks will be a more practical and roomier estate body style, a prototype of which was nabbed by our scoop photographers testing on European roads.

Volkswagen will likely release the new station wagon model under different names in various markets, such as Golf Variant in mainland Europe, Golf Estate in the UK and Jetta Sportwagen in North America.

Compared to the hatchback, the new MQB platform-based estate will gain a longer, taller and boxier-shaped rear end providing a significantly larger boot capacity that will exceed 500 liters (vs. the 5d’s 380 liters)

Other than that, the two body styles won’t differ sharing the same engine range, which in Europe, will include a variety of turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

The North American model will also be offered with gasoline and diesel engines, but since VW has not yet made any announcements on the hatchback version of the Golf MK7 series, we don’t have any specific information in our hands.

Expect to see Volkswagen lifting the wraps off the new 2013 Golf Variant at either the Geneva Motor Show in March or the Frankfurt Motor Show in October of the same year.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoop

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