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VOLKSWAGEN has confirmed that it will launch a new Scirocco sports hatch in mid-2008 – 16 years after the nameplate last appeared.

The long-awaited third-generation Scirocco will be based on the Alfa Brera-style Iroc concept car that appeared at last year’s Paris motor show.

It will be built on the existing Golf/Eos front-wheel drive platform, with a range of engines and transmissions (manual and DSG) common to the Golf.

A Volkswagen insider told GoAuto that the base engine will be a 90kW FSI petrol unit while the top-of-the-range model will get the 2.0-litre turbocharged FSI unit from the Golf GTI, developing the same 147kW of power and 280Nm of torque.

In between will be a 110kW version of the revolutionary 1.4-litre “twincharged” (supercharged and turbocharged) TSI engine released locally this week in the Golf GT.

This will be the only TSI engine offered in the Scirocco and will ultimately become the standard TSI offering across the VW range, replacing the existing 103kW and 125kW versions in the name of commonality.

The next-generation Golf will only offer the 110kW TSI engine.

Further down the track, a V6-engined Scirocco is possible, said our source.

Volkswagen has made no secret of the fact that the Iroc – the middle four letters of the word Scirocco – would herald the return to production of its former coupe.

The original Scirocco was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and was built from 1974 to 1982. The VW-designed second-generation model ran until 1992, when it was replaced by the Corrado after sales of 500,000 worldwide.

As revealed in Paris last September, the compact Iroc hatch features four “full-fledged” seats and a large boot accessed via a generous hatchback.

Left: Gen I Scirocco.

Although reportedly designed “in the spirit” of the original, the new Scirocco is considerably more stylish than its rather angular forebears.

Measuring just 1400mm high, 4240mm long and 1800mm wide, the bright green Iroc show car sat on an extended 2680mm wheelbase and 19-inch wheels. It was powered by a 155kW TSI engine, demonstrating the potential of the twincharge concept.

Scirocco production is expected to take place at the Autoeuropa assembly plant in Palmela, Portugal.

It could be expected to be shown at next year’s Australian International Motor Show in Sydney before arriving in local showrooms in the first half of 2009.

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