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GaTHE VOICE OFvin GrEXPERIENCE een20 TOPCAR.CO.ZA|January 2016``````get his revenge and start a rumour that hewants to bu y Audi or Porsch e – or maybethe whole VW Grou p. Hemay even beserious (he tried to bu y GM Europe in2009).9.The Gree ks will be laug hing.10.Gree d and megalomania caused VW’sdownfall. They were so desper ate to be theworld’s number one car maker, theycheate d.11.The availability of go od electric carscan’t come soon enough. Anyone who hasdriven a BMW i3, i8 or Tesla Model Sknows this.12.Diesel sales will continue strongly inEurope, with only a modest dip, at least foranother five years.13.Diesel sales will collapse in America.14.Environmentalists who urged us toembracediesels 20 years ago will take noblame. ‘It’s all the fault of multinationals.’15 .Yet they were right – diesels were thebest solution toreducing CO2 in the ’90s,and are still the best shor t-term solutionnow.16 .Americans who now reject fuel-efficientVW diesels will buy over-sized petrol SUVsinstead. So that’s real eco progress...17.Future ge nerations will look back inamazement and wonder how legislatorsallowed factories and vehicles, burning filthyhydrocarbon s (coal, diesel, oil, petrol etc) topoison our air.18.The legendary LJK Setright, a Cice roamong we scribblers, will be spinning excitedlyin hi s grave. He always detested diesels.19 .Official consumption and CO2 figuresare, of course, a joke. The biggest disparitybetween real CO2 and official figures is withplug-in hybrids, darlings of the self-righteou s. Anyone seriously believe aCayenne hybrid is cleaner than anAygo?20.Finally, German car makers will showgreat humility at the next Frankfurt Show(I am not confident ab out this).tc``````reassuring words VW utter. As the recall isnot ‘safety related’ , it is not mandatory. Sowatch those VW recall letters head for thebin... Unless there’s compensation onoffer,of course.2.Despite suggestions that owners of Golfdiesels are emitting equivalent toxins toPuffing Billy every time they accelerate, theaffecte d vehicles are still cleaner overall thanalmost any car morethan five years old.3.If legislators are serious ab out NOx andparticulates in cities, they should ban mostbuses, taxis and trucks.4.Diesel fumes, even from ‘clean’ EUcompliant cars, suppos edly cause cancer.Then again so does sunshine, wine, coffee,bacon, coco nut oil, pickled vegetables, shiftwork and ham sandwiches.5.The Golf was the best mid-si zed hatch onsale in early Septemberand it still is today.So don’t cancel that order.6.On the ot her hand, if you ordered a Jettaor Touran and still await delivery, this maybe a good excuse to get your money ba ck.7.The VW Grou p will no lo nger sp lash cashon vanity projects, meaning no Audi Fteam and probably no more Le Mans.8.Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne, annoyed byVW taunts about buying Alfa Romeo, willTHEFRANKFURT MOTORShow, as usual, was full ofGerman car company chiefslooking pleased with th emselves,apart from BMW’s HaraldKrüger who fainted. Expansive andexpensive stands promoted the collectiveindustrial mi ght of the world’s mostsuccessful car producing nation, includingthe achievements of the newly crownednumber one global car maker, Volkswagen.Of course the senior people at German carcompanies are (mostly) very clever and therewere some great new concept cars. Butsometimes their sense of their ownperfection can be trying, so it was somethingof a relief to have a cup of tea at the end ofthe first press day with Peugeot’s likeab leCEO Carlos Tavares. As we spoke ab outpossi ble trends, he said: ‘You know anythingcan happen in this industry – tomorrowmorning you may have a big surpri se.’Four days later the VW emissions scandalbroke and many Volkswagen seniormanagers su ddenly beca me (to paraphraseChurchill) immodest men who have much tobe modest about. Howthe mighty fall! Thiswasn’t so much progress throughtechnology, as Vorsprung du rch Treachery.There was muchschadenfreudefrom rivalFrench, Italian, American and British carboss es, untilthey sa w their share pricesfall too.The VW scandal moves fast. As you readthis, there may not even bea VW Grou p.Here are a few observations and pred ictions.1.Many owners will ignore the recall. Their‘fixed’ cars will almost certainly use morefuel and/ or be less po werful, no matter what‘VW will no longersplash cash on vanityprojects, meaning noAudi F1 team andprobably no Le Mans’French, Italian, American and British car``````The VW scandal moves fast. As you readthis, there may not even bea VW Grou p.Here are a few observations and pred ictions.Many owners will ignore the recall. Their‘fixed’ cars will almost certainly use morefuel and/ or be less po werful, no matter what