Keep up to date with all the goings on at Paris 2012, and join the discussion with MotorTorque's 48-hour live blog.
The third-generation Golf BlueMotion will appear in the UK during summer 2013, Volkswagen has confirmed at the Paris Motor Show.
Get a FREE quote on your next VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
Click below and save up to 30% on a new VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
The Golf BlueMotion has been described by the manufacturer as being 'one of the world's most fuel-efficient cars'. The 2013 BlueMotion will appear alongside the seventh-generation Golf at the Paris Motor Show this week.
According to Volkswagen the BlueMotion will return 88.3 mpg on its combined cycle and emit a paltry 85g/km of carbon dioxide. Volkswagen has stressed though that these are still provisional figures, and will be confirmed for UK specification closer to launch.
If it is able to achieve those figures though then Volkswagen will have every right to back the car's amazing eco credentials to the hilt. Its 50-litre fuel tank gives it a 'theoretical range' of 970 miles. Astonishingly, Volkswagen estimates that people with an annual driving distance of 9,300 miles will only have to refuel ten times a year.
The key words to point out here are ones like 'approximately' and 'theoretically'. Volkswagen is just estimating these figures at the moment, but we don't have much reason to doubt them considering their excellent eco work over the years.
The first-gen Golf BlueMotion for instance had figures of 62.8mpg/119 g/km. That was cut to 74.3mpg/99g/km in the second generation model. Another reduction would be going in the right direction.
So, how will the new Golf BlueMotion achieve these impressive figures then? The car's frame has shed some weight and its aerodynamics have been refined. Internal friction has also been reduced, and a lot of credit has to go to the manufacturer's impressive 1.6-litre 110 PS TDI.
Just for now we're going to take the Golf BlueMotion with a pinch of salt until its statistics are officially confirmed. But if Volkswagen's right, then it's possibly produced one of the most eco-friendly family cars in history.
Written by John Meadowcroft