Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn has said that Volkswagen should become a market leader in environmental protection and reducing fuel consumption.

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According to dpa-AFX news, Winterkorn wants to market a particularly economical small car on the market. In an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper at the weekend, he said he ordered the development of a new small car positioned below the Fox as soon as he entered office as CEO at the beginning of this year.


Automotive industry newspaper, Automobilwoche, reported that the successor to the three-litre (of fuel consumed per 100 kilometres) Fox should be ready within the next 30 months.


Volkswagen has also been considering a new small car, priced around EUR5,000, for emerging markets such as India.


Winterkorn also said that he is calling for hybrid versions of Volkswagen’s compact Polo and Golf models.

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The latest suggestions follow last week’s decision by the European Union to target average CO2 emissions of 130g/km from passenger cars. Volkswagen has been slower to prioritise reduced CO2 emissions and fuel consumption from its fleet, than some of its competitors.


The latest developments conflict with Volkswagen supervisory board chairman Ferdinand Piech’s, aspirations to take the VW brand upmarket. He was behind the ill-fated Phaeton luxury sedan and is said to be pushing for bigger engines in upcoming VW brand models (such as Scirocco coupe and Tiguan SUV) in order to underpin his luxury aspirations for the brand.