Geneva motor show - Volkswagen

Something green, something blue
Volkswagen unveiled its Passat BlueMotion and Polo BlueMotion - a duet of environmentally friendly and ultra-frugal vehicles.

VW says the Passat's 70-litre fuel tank has a range of up 850 miles. It uses a 1.9TDI engine that emits 136g/km of CO2. The Polo, meanwhile, can achieve 72.4mpg and emits less carbon dioxide than a Toyota Prius.

How so?
VW has done the extraordinary with the ordinary. In the Polo BlueMotion, it has built a lightweight car, made it extremely aerodynamic by fitting efficient front and rear spoilers, and designed the transmission so that gears three to five have 12-24% longer ratios (that means the engine does less work in these gears, so less fuel is burned). It has also used a very frugal 1.4-litre three-cylinder diesel engine.

Something to shout about, then?
Yes, the car emits only 102g/km of carbon dioxide, and to push home the point, VW has 102 Polo BlueMotions stationed at the major hotels in Geneva to ferry journalists and guests to the show. Green theme continues with the Touareg BlueTDI. This 4x4 uses VW's clean diesel engines with a uprated catalytic converter that reduces nitrogen dioxide by up to 90%. It is expected to go on sale in 2008.

The Polo BlueMotion will cost from £11,000 (non-air-conditioned model) when it goes on sale in July, and the Passat BlueMotion will be on sale towards the end of the year.

What else is there?
Volkswagen's new estate, the Golf Variant. Again, VW has plenty of reason to polish its halo, because this car has the largest loadspace of any Golf to date.

After the rear seats are folded flat, it'll swallow 1550 litres of whatever you choose to put in it. VW has also given the estate a new nose, featuring a fancy chrome front grille, as well as distinctive new rear lights and a spoiler on the back.

The estate will be powered by a range of diesel engines, comprising 104bhp 1.9-litre and 138bhp 2.0-litre powerplants.

If you want a petrol model, then you can have a 138bhp 1.4-litre TSI or a 97bhp 1.6-litre FSI.

The Golf variant is due to go on sale in July, and you can expect to pay about £800 more than a Golf hatchback.

Anything else worth looking at?
The updated Phaeton luxury saloon looks impressive, as is a special interactive display entitled 'Future of the Car'. There's also a Caddy Life Edition concept car and the Multivan Panamericana on the stand, too.