Maybe you don’t even remember it, but you too have ever been in a car with a 1.9 TDI. Even if it was just a taxi on vacation. The indestructible diesel engine was found in almost every product of the Volkswagen Group, from the Seat Alhambra to the Volkswagen Polo. Diesel was almost synonymous with Volkswagen. That era is over, because now only one passenger car with one diesel engine can be ordered from VW.
The colleagues of AutoWeek mocking that Volkswagen in the Netherlands has quietly removed the diesel versions of the Golf from the range. But if we look further into the range, we no longer encounter diesel engines among the passenger cars. You can only order the Passat with the 2.0 TDI. To be clear: the 1.9 TDI has been discontinued for much longer.
A spokesman for Volkswagen Netherlands informs TopGear that most diesel engines for passenger cars have been out of stock for a while. The fact that it is only now coming to attention also indicates how much interest there is still for diesel engines. In Germany you can still order several passenger cars from Volkswagen with a diesel engine.
The rest of the Volkswagen Group will also stop using diesel
Audi announced in 2022 that it would stop using diesel in the Netherlands altogether. Also at Seat and Skoda we no longer see diesel models in the configurators on the website. Porsche was slightly ahead and already announced in 2018 that they would no longer supply models with diesel engines. You don’t expect it, but there is no diesel available at Bugatti either.
There are probably still enough 1.9 TDIs around
As mentioned, the legendary 1.9 TDI has disappeared from the range for a while. Perhaps that is the real reason why diesel is not so popular anymore. We can’t think of any big cheating scandal or anything like that that could be the basis for it. Incidentally, we dare to bet that most TDIs that are sold new here are still happily driving around in eastern Europe.
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