Volkswagen has announced it plans to bring out plastic and magnesium car that can get 238 miles per US gallon by 2010. Neither experts nor the company imagine many people lining up to buy the small but expensive car.
There were plenty of pamphlets touting environmental concerns and banners proclaiming green credentials at the Frankfurt Auto Show which ended last month. But German carmaker Volkswagen said Tuesday, Oct. 9, it intended to put its money where its mouth is regarding promises to cut carbon dioxide emissions by meeting consumer demand for cars with better gas mileage.
"The environment is a topic of discussion in our society and we do not think it is going to come in like a wave then roll back away, as it has in the past," VW spokesman Andreas Meurer said.
Still, no one at VW expects the company's single-cylinder car in development, which would require one liter of gas to travel 100 kilometers -- the equivalent of 238 miles per US gallon -- to be a record breaker in sales terms, CEO Martin Winterkorn.
The car, whose body will be made primarily of plastic and magnesium, will only reach a maximum speed of 120 kilometer per hour (75 mph).
"People taking this car on the autobahn should pray they don't get run over by a trailer truck," said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director for the Center of Automotive Research at the University of Gelsenkirchen.
