Volkswagen isn’t planning on building full diesel-electric hybrids despite rivals PSA Peugeot Citroen pushing ahead with the format.

“Diesel hybrids still don’t make good business sense,” said a VW spokesman. “The higher cost of clean diesel technology would make them even more expensive than petrol-electric cars. The markets where hybrids are most popular are also the ones where diesels are least popular.”

The comments represent a U-turn for VW after the Wolfsburg-based manufacturer introduced the Up! Lite concept at the Los Angeles motorshow in December last year.

At the time Ulrich Hackenberg, VW’s R&D boss, told Autocar that the technology previewed on the concept car could be upscaled to bigger cars.

The Up! Lite, was constructed from lightweight materials, including aluminium and carbon-fibre, and emitted just 65g/km of CO2.

It was powered by an 800cc, twin-cylinder common-rail diesel engine producing 50bhp at 4,000rpm and 88lb ft of torque between 1,800 and 2,250rpm.

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