Volkswagen have unveiled the hotly anticipated new Golf mark seven in Berlin.

The carmaker has dubbed the latest incarnation of the 38-year-old model the "best, greenest Golf ever built".

According to German media, the new Golf weighs some 100 kilograms less than the last mark and has been lengthened by 56 millimetres to 4.25 metres.

In addition, the car will be the first Volkswagen brand model to be made using the cost-saving "modular transverse architecture", which will see parts shared throughout the group, making enormous savings.

The car has not been universally welcomed though. Greenpeace said the new car had "failed its climate goal".

"The economy model of the Golf 7 has a fuel consumption of almost five litres" per 100 kilometres, Greenpeace said in a news release.

"Volkswagen needs to set standards with its best-selling model," Greenpeace said, adding that the fuel economy results were "miserable".