现行版大众Polo上市已经有七年了，因此大众正在开发下一代车型也就不足为奇了，新车将于明年发布。最近谍照记者拍到了正在美国测试的原型车，虽然车身进行了重度伪装，但仍可发现它的车身尺寸比现行版更大。值得注意的是，该车采用了高尔夫GTI风格的合金轮圈和双排气尾管，因此该车有可能是高性能版的Polo GTI。虽然新车外观设计与现行版相比并没有明显不同，但它的内部结构则与老款车完全不同。新一代车型将采用大众非常灵活的MQB平台，而且是结构最紧凑的版本，因此尽管新车的尺寸更大，但重量将进一步降低。从照片看，新车后车门和轴距比现行版加长，因此车身长度大幅增加，后排乘客腿部空间将更充裕。另外，新车的离地间隙更高，这表明新车有可能衍生出一款跨界车。至于动力系统，新车将搭载一系列三缸和四缸涡轮引擎，甚至可能增加弱混动版。新一代Polo将于明年下半年发布，届时将成为下一代福特嘉年华竞争车型。而其跨界车版本则要等到2018年才会发布。

 

Next Volkswagen Polo looks all grown up

The current Polo has been around for more than seven years, so it should not come as a surprise the people from Wolfsburg are gearing up for the sixth generation slated to come out next year. What we have here is an early sight of the overhauled supermini in prototype guise wearing an extensive amount of camouflage which cannot mask the significantly increased footprint.

 

It’s a bit surprising to see the car undergoing testing in United States, but perhaps it’s because Volkswagen might have plans to bring the supermini stateside for the next generation. At this moment it is a bit tricky to point out any styling details, especially since this could be an early prototype without all of the production bits and pieces.

 

We do notice the large Golf GTI-styled alloy wheels and dual exhaust tips, so there are reasons enough to believe we are dealing in fact with the hotter Polo GTI. However, one can never be too sure when talking about prototypes since in many cases these mix and match components from several versions of a model.

 

While the exterior design may or may not be a significant departure compared to the current Polo, underneath the skin will actually be an entirely different car. That’s because the sixth generation of VW’s ever so popular supermini will make the switch to the very flexible MQB platform. It will use the smallest version of the architecture (dubbed “A0”) which will enable the new Polo to shave off weight despite growing in size.

 

Speaking of which, just look at the length of the rear doors and wheelbase. These are signs the next Polo will be much longer compared to today’s car and it will pay dividends in terms of legroom, especially for rear passengers. Those looking for an increased ground clearance should know the all-new Polo will serve as foundation for a crossover which spy photos have shown is already well underway.

 

The new and improved Polo will use an assortment of turbocharged three- and four-cylinder engines and it could possibly receive a mild hybrid setup as well as a move to clean up the mess created by VAG’s nasty Dieselgate.

 

Look for an official debut in the second half of 2017 when the new Polo will come out to face the next-gen Ford Fiesta, itself a supermini that will grow in size as demonstrated by spy images. The aforementioned crossover won’t be available right away, so most likely it will arrive at some point in 2018.