The Volkswagen XL1 will only be sold through leasing

Since the confirmation of the model for production, speculation has been rife about the Volkswagen XL1, the plug-in hybrid that promised a revolution in fuel consumption. Volkswagen has taken one of the first steps towards the production model: confirming that the XL1 will be sold only through leasing.

This doesn’t mean it cannot be purchased in the traditional way, but most XL1 sales will be under the leasing method, according to what some German executives of the brand have confirmed. To put things a little more plainly, leasing allows you to rent the car for a period of time, after which you can keep renting it, end the contract or buy the vehicle.

And all of this is because Volkswagen intends to keep tighter control over its XL1s sold through leasing, since their owners will not be able to have the car serviced in a supposed “parallel market”; they will always have to go to Volkswagen for vehicle maintenance, a control strategy that is not new and has been used by other exclusive sports car brands.

As for the XL1, a brief reminder. It features a 800 cc two-cylinder turbo diesel engine producing 47 CV, coupled to an electric motor producing 27 CV. The transmission is handled by a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, just one of the factors behind an average consumption figure of 0.9 L/100 km.

It is also said that the XL1 will be not only the most efficient vehicle in the world, but also the first plug-in hybrid with a mid-mounted engine, which is no small achievement. As the months go by we will see how and in what way it will be sold in Spain.

Via | Autoblog Green