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Volkswagen Polo faces axe as Euro 7 rules drive price up

VW boss Thomas Schäfer says newly confirmed emission rules could add €5000 to the cost of a small car

Mark Tisshaw
News
3 mins read
18 November 2022

Volkswagen is prepared to pull its small cars off sale rather than engineer them to meet costly new Euro 7 emission regulations, which could add as much as €5000 to the cost of a car.

CEO Thomas Schäfer said engineers at the company were currently assessing the regulations, and a decision was expected within the next couple of weeks as to whether or not they would proceed. 

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Gubiee 20 November 2022
So everything is moving towards Electric Vehicles EV's, all based on some beurocratic legislation at costs to the environment. I agree that we are running low on crude oil and a replacement needs to be found. But for me, forcing everyone to electricity is wrong. We have other ways to produce EV's rather than just batteries. What about hydrogen tech or diesel hybrid. Why only petrol hybrid and batteries. These car batteries are not recyclable and have only have a finite charge ratio. I work as an engineer where I can cover in excess of 300 miles a day with a full set of tools. This is not a work supplied vehicle either, as I am self employed. I have just purchased a polo for my son to drive. Again choosing againt an EV. I would only buy an EV for myself or my family when the battery's are 100% recyclable and when the ranges are 500 miles plus on a charge. The UK does not have the infrastructure to charge EV currently. Now to say that the new Vehicles are 5k more due to euro7 legislation is madness. If this is on small cars, how much more will they put on medium cars? Who has the money to pay £25k for a small car that will realistically do 150 miles and last 5 years before a 10k battery swap which will end up in landfill. Come on VW where is your blue-sky thinking.
gagaga 18 November 2022

So another £5k on *all* cars then,

That £8k Dacia of 2020 will be £25k by 2025.

Well, they'll certainly achieve their aim of pricing the plebs off the road.

Deputy 18 November 2022

Idiots all round.  Crazy regulations but also manufacturers who assume I want a CHEAP small car.  I like a small car as our second car for local use.  But I don't want a cheap one.  I'd like a luxury small car.  But they'd rather sell 2 tonne SUVs to school run mums whereas they could easily alter the zeitgeist and make small luxury the thing to have.  Hopefully electric small cars will have luxury options.

lukeski 18 November 2022
I don't think they are saying that you won't be able to buy a luxury small car, Audi A1 etc will remain, they are though saying that they won't be able to make cheap, or at least mass market small cars, such as the Polo under these regulations. Not to besmirch the marketing power of car companies but I am also not sure that it is easy to change the zeitgeist :)
catnip 18 November 2022
But haven't Audi already said some time ago that there would be no replacement for the A1, and that the entry point into Audi ownership would be a larger vehicle? MG, on the other hand, have said that the MG3 replacement will still be petrol powered, so there's a lot of mixed messages at the moment.
The cynic in me says that what the VW group is really saying is that they only really want to sell expensive cars to, make big profits, and they can more easily get away with that with larger vehicles.
catnip 18 November 2022

But haven't Audi already said some time ago that they wouldn't be replacing the A1, and that the entry  point into Audi ownership would be with a larger model?  On the other hand MG have just said that the replacement for the MG3 will still be petrol powered, so there are mixed messages coming across right now.

The cynic in me thinks that VW are really saying that they only want to make bigger, higher profit models, something not as easy to do with smaller vehicles.