The Wunderwagen

All world automakers are now scrambling to grab a niche in the market for efficient, very high mileage compacts and subcompacts for the mid- to late 1980s, but Volkswagenwerk of Wolfsburg, West Germany, is quickly pulling ahead. Having largely phased out its venerable Beetle profile of the 1950s and 1960s for the engineering improvements and angular lines of the bestselling Rabbit in the 1970s, the company is now at work on the aerodynamically sleek silhouette of a new subcompact four-seater design that looks more like a Gucci slipper than a car.

Targeted for production some time between 1986 and 1990, the People's Car of tomorrow will combine a revolutionary diesel engine with other fuel-saving technologies that designers hope will get 75 or more m.p.g. in combined city and highway driving. A test model will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. At present, U.S. law requires automakers to have a fleet average fuel economy of only 22 m.p.g., which will rise to 27.5 m.p.g. by 1985. The VW Rabbit diesel, with 42 m.p.g. city and 56 m.p.g. highway, is the most fuel-efficient car in production now available in the U.S. Several foreign manufacturers produce cars with even better mileage, but these are not for sale in the U.S.

One reason Volkswagen is first in the high-mileage sweepstakes has been its participation in the West German government's Vehicle of the Future research project. Begun in 1978 with the participation of VW, Audi, Daimler-Benz, Porsche and BMW, the program has brought engineering advances in everything from engine design to the use of lightweight plastic in bodies, frames and even in axles. VW has received $7.5 million in government funds and spent another $7.5 million of its own money on the studies. Though Ford and General Motors are independently working on high-mileage cars for the early 1990s, Volkswagen has for now stolen the lead.

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