The diesel car has moved one step closer to extinction with the announcement that Volkswagen has taken the diesel Golf off sale in the UK.
The Golf was one of the first mainstream cars available with a diesel engine. It was initially offered as a powertrain option in 1976, just two years after the model's launch. For many in the UK, the Golf was the car in which they had their first experience of this initially clattery but undeniably frugal choice of engine.
The Golf was regularly crowned Britain's best-selling diesel. It was a mainstay of the fleet market, where its economy credentials, tax-friendly low CO2 output and (more latterly) punchy performance figures were a hit. More than eight out of 10 new Golfs handed to company car drivers in 2015 were so-called oil-burners.
But now the model is gone for good, its maker told Autocar in a statement. "Volkswagen UK continually evaluates customer demand and in this case has chosen to focus on increased petrol and upcoming hybrid powertrains for the ever-popular Golf model," it said.
Volkswagen arguably sparked the decline of diesel when the emissions-cheating scandal blew up in late 2015, but the wider Volkswagen Group has never relinquished its diesel lead, accounting for four out of every 10 diesels sold across Europe this year.
The UK, however, was quicker to wave goodbye to diesel than other European countries such as Germany and Italy. Diesels accounted for just 4.8% of UK sales from January to May, dropping another 7% year on year at 44,449 units, according to figures from the SMMT.
The diesel Golf, once the corporate driver's favourite, has accounted for just 5.5% of the model's overall sales in the UK so far this year. As Volkswagen mentioned in its statement, electrified drivetrains have taken diesel's place. The new full-hybrid Golf will arrive in winter to sit alongside mild-hybrid, plug-in hybrid and petrol models.
