Volkswagen Wrestles a Revered Model From the Icy Grip of Stigma

Sometimes, a brand, person, or thing is forever tainted by an unfortunate occurrence.

Think of Anthony Perkins and the movie Psycho. Because a character can be played a little too well, the roles really didn’t pour in after that. The same goes for Ted Kennedy and a certain incident involving an Olds 88.

In the automotive world, few people bothered picking up a second-generation Chevrolet Corvair, despite the elimination of the previous generation’s wildly controversial — an potentially deadly — swing-axle rear suspension.

Stigma skews people’s perception, and Volkswagen, frankly, has had enough of it. So, in an effort to keep the name of its most fuel-efficient production vehicle clean, VW has dropped a certain fuel from a model that once knew nothing else.

In Europe, the word BlueMotion means only one thing: the most mileage you can squeeze out of a diesel Volkswagen Golf. As the thriftiest entry in the lineup, the Golf BlueMotion traditionally paired a small diesel motor with all the aerodynamic improvements VW could muster, making the already stingy TDI look like an F-350.

Of course, the rest is history. Nowadays, the mere presence of diesel causes consumers — and regulators — to raise an eyebrow in suspicion at any claim made by the automaker.

Volkswagen would rather not have that. Luckily, technology has allowed for an alternative. Instead of sipping stigma juice by the thimbleful, the next-generation Golf BlueMotion will adopt a gasoline hybrid drivetrain, forever separating itself from rumor and suspicion.

Speaking to Autocar, VW brand head Herbert Diess said the advent of 48-volt electrical systems make the switch possible.

“We will still offer small capacity diesel engines in the next Golf because they remain important in many markets, and because for customers who do high mileages they will remain the most economical choice,” Diess explained.

“But 48v allows you to recycle energy more efficiently than 12v and to use it to drive the car with an electric motor of about 10- or 12kW, at a much lower cost than you can with a full hybrid powertrain today. So for those who drive mostly in the city or only cover 6,000 to 10,000 miles a year, the new mild hybrid solution should be better.”

The BlueMotion, along with the rest of the Golf line, should receive an eighth-generation makeover for 2019. All models will adopt the 48V system. However, while a hybrid gasoline Golf ultra-sipper is good news for eco-conscious Europeans, the variant has never been offered for sale in the U.S. Most hybrids around these parts are usually built and sold for little profit, all in the interests of boosting the automaker’s corporate average fuel economy.

Now, don’t take this as a prediction, but there’s probably a not-too-difficult business case to be made for Volkswagen challenging the Toyota Prius family and other well-known hybrids on U.S. soil. By bringing the BlueMotion stateside, it could erase some of the environmental stigma attached to the brand. Fully electric vehicles ring the bell on the holiness scale, but there will likely be no small number of buyers scared to take the leap into VW’s looming EV bonanza.

[Image: Volkswagen Group]