Stylish Hybrid is a clean machine

But diesel power could harm UK sales

THE motoring magazine Autocar recently carried out a poll involving several thousand motorists, asking them their current opinion on diesel cars.

The result was shocking. Only 23% said they would replace their current car with one. This despite the fact that modern diesel engines (which conform to latest Euro6 emissions regulations) are pretty clean.

But there’s another issue likely to be putting people off buying diesel. The government doesn’t have to ban diesel cars from cities or introduce a scrappage scheme – all it has to do is increase the fuel duty on diesel fuel. That alone will make the economics of owning a diesel car difficult.

Which is all a bit tiresome for car companies. It doesn’t take long for a buyer to tick the petrol box on the order form but it takes a very long time to restructure your whole manufacturing output.

Renault will relate to this. Our road test this week is on the new Scenic hybrid. The current Scenic was launched late last year but the hybrid version is only now about to go on sale. What’s the problem, you ask? Unfortunately the Scenic hybrid’s full name is Scenic dCi 110 Hybrid Assist which, if you know your Renault naming, means that it is powered by a diesel engine.

They must be kicking themselves that they didn’t put a petrol