VW looks past emissions scandal, readies new diesel engine

The Volkswagen Group is looking past the emissions scandal, which caused it to recall around 11 million cars globally (323,700 cars in India) and face the prospect of millions of dollars of fines from various authorities, by revealing plans for a new generation of four-cylinder engines later this year.

The new turbocharged 1.5-litre, four-cylinder diesel unit is expected to supersede the turbocharged 1.6-litre, four-cylinder engine involved in the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

On the petrol side, a new turbocharged 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine is set to replace the existing turbocharged 1.4-litre, four-cylinder powerplant, bringing what one insider explains as the potential for added torque qualities due to the moderate increase in capacity.

It is, however, unclear, whether the 1.5-litre diesel engine is the same as the one engineered for the Indian market. In 2014, the carmaker had introduced a downsized a 1.5-litre unit, which was essentially a smaller-capacity version of the EA189 1.6 TDI motor, in order to avail tax benefits in India.

More recently, the Volkswagen Group revealed that its diesel cars in India are not fitted with the ‘defeat device’ software, which was at the centre of the worldwide emissions scandal.

The new petrol and diesel units are set to be made public at the Vienna Motor Symposium in late April, and scheduled to go into production in 2017, according to a senior Wolfsburg official familiar with the German carmaker’s future engine plans.

Conceived around the latest direct-injection petrol and common-rail diesel processes and what is described as a modular aluminium crankcase and cylinder head, the new engines are initially planned to share a common 1.5-litre capacity. They will be used in a wide range of Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen models, starting with the facelifted seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf.

At this stage it is uncertain whether Volkswagen will unveil the engines in detail at the Vienna Motor Symposium, or will reveal simplified single-cylinder concepts of the new units outlining their inner workings and combustion properties.