(Mon 08 Sep 08)

The new Volkswagen Golf will go on sale in January next year, and a few months later it will be followed a few months later by the introduction of a low-CO2 BlueMotion model.

The car you see here is a concept version of the BlueMotion, and the numbers associated with it are something to behold. Combined fuel economy is 74.3mpg, much better than any current Golf can manage, and CO2 emissions are rated at 99g/km, the same as for the cheaper of the two Polo BlueMotions presently on sale even though the Golf is a significantly larger car. That CO2 figure would make the car exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty in the UK.

To achieve this result, the concept car uses a 104bhp 1.6-litre turbo diesel engine, higher-than-standard gearing, various aerodynamic tweaks and low-resistance tyres. Volkswagen has not confirmed whether the production version will be equally economical.

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