The next generation of the Volkswagen Golf should be introduced at next year’s Paris motor show, in October. As always, we may expect a large choice of gasoline and diesel engines, and there should be a CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) one too. That would be a first. Volkswagen’s already a leader when it comes to cars running on CNG, but none was ever offered in the Golf. Of course, it was possible to convert a Golf to run on CNG, but Volkswagen will do it better. The German manufacturer was the first to launch a turbocharged engine on CNG. VW’s CNG cars are not cheap conversions. They are cars totally dedicated to the consumption of natural gas. They retain a gasoline tank, but it’s a very small one. We shall think of it as an emergency tank, just in case there were no CNG station around.

In Germany, the Passat, the Touran and the Caddy are available today with a 150-hp CNG engine. The next Golf could get it too, but it won’t. Volkswagen’s developing a newer engine, with less power (the Golf doesn’t need 150-hp), based on its 1.4-liter TSI, and that should make this Golf a true champion. In CO2 emissions, that is. The CNG Passat is already excellent at 119 g/km, the CNG Golf with less weight and a thriftier engine should be even better. It may even better the diesel! We’ll find this out late next year, and I hope the car will be offered in every country where there are CNG stations. Germany, Italy, Thailand… There are many more.