Does this storyline look familiar? A German or Japanese automaker announces some hot-sounding variant of a vehicle we already love, but then they follow that news up by telling us that the new model won’t be making its way to the U.S. We thought this tired and disappointing plot was once again unfolding with the recent announcement of a Volkswagen 35 Edition GTI, but Car and Driver cites sources who say we’re likely to receive the hot hatch after all.

The big news for the 35 Edition GTI is a jump in horsepower to 235 horsepower, or 25 more ponies than the already awesome standard GTI. The name of the special edition VW comes as a tribute to the fact that the GTI has been available in Europe for 35 years. Not so in the U.S., though, so the name may have to change if it indeed reaches our shores. C/D points out that the first GTI hit the States in 1983, so the 30 Edition name could be a strong possibility. Of course, that means the 35 badging on the door sills, seats and fenders will need to go, but we’re guessing the deletes won’t be much trouble at all.

While this report is no clear confirmation from VW, we’re optimistic that C/D’s sources could be onto something. Hope springs eternal and all that…

Over the past few years, LEDs have worked their way into automotive lighting, initially on high-end luxury and sports cars, but lately, on an increasing number of mainstream vehicles. In what the company claims to be a ‘first’ in the compact segment, Volkswagen has developed new LED rear lights for the sportiest variants of the Golf VI.

Initially, the LED tail lamps will be offered as standard on the recently revealed 270HP Golf R and as an option for €350 or approximately US$520 on the 210HP Golf GTI and its diesel-sibling, the 170HP Golf GTD.

Volkswagen said that each smoked rear light consists of two curved right angles, each angle containing eleven LEDs plus one central LED above each curve. If you do the math, that comes to a total of 48 LEDs.

Aside from the cool-look factor, the LED rear lights are practically maintenance-free and extremely fast with their response time to brake activation said to be 0.2 second faster than that of conventional incandescent lights. The company said that this time difference translates to 5.6 meters braking distance at a speed of 100 km/h or 62mph.

Golf buyers can combine the LED tail lights with bi-xenon head lights with dynamic cornering light that vary the lighting direction as a function of the steering angle. The headlamps are standard on the Golf R and optional on all other Golf models with prices starting from €1,295 (US$1,900).