Volkswagen Golf Bluemotion reveal crashed by Greenpeace

By David Zalstein | September 27th, 2012

FIND DEALS

Environmental organisation Greenpeace has crashed the unveiling of the Volkswagen Golf Bluemotion at the Paris motor show, continuing a campaign against the German brand based on its CO₂ emissions.

Protesters from the green group interrupted a video presentation by Volkswagen research and development chief Ulrich Hackenberg about the company’s most economical Golf in history, by displaying a large yellow banner with a message written in French that, according to our CarAdvice team at the motor show, made reference to Volkswagen “polluting us all”. This was also accompanied by the release of some balloons.

Reports say a Volkswagen spokesman who took to the stage said, “The Golf is the most economical and efficient car in its class and we’re delighted Greenpeace are here to recognise our work with their comments on our products and technology,” before the protesters were removed from the Volkswagen stand.

The two groups have a history over the carmaker’s emissions credentials with Greenpeace launching a campaign against the manufacturer in June of 2011 that saw Star Wars-inspired clips released referring to Volkswagen as ‘The Dark Side’.

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Daniel

It’s not that I’m anti environment, but does anyone else think that groups like Greenpeace always have really lame and stupid tactics to get their messages across that ultimately just make you dislike them as a group even if you’re willing to hear their message? “This was also accompanied by the release of some balloons” made me lol.
- Zaccy16
  
  Exactly! stinking imbeciles choosing one of the lowest co2 cars on sale to protest on! go to the nissan stand and protest the patrol that has a huge v8! that shows how stupid these people are!
  - Dave W
    
    Liked for common sense.
    
    They’re lacking logic sometimes, just like the Greens and that stupid mayor of Sydney who let cyclists on the road.
    - Zaccy16
      
      Very good point! if we hit the cyclists in the car its our fault even though the cyclist turned out in front of us!
      - Luke Brinsmead
        
        …adding to the fact that cyclist don’t pay a fee to use the road annoys me. I don’t dislike cyclists, I just wish they would keep off the roads us motorists pay to use.
      - Zaccy16
        
        Very good point
      - Stickman
        
        Except for the part where most cyclists also own a car or two and pay the same in licensing and registration as you do…..
        
        Although as a driver and a part time commuter cyclist, I share your frustration with some of the stupid stuff I see cyclists do. When I’m on my bike though, it would be me that dies in an accident, not the car driver, so having a foot in each camp makes me more considerate in either role.
      - Dave W
        
        Cyclists on the road during rush hour traffic, that’s the embodiment of selfishness. They only care about the fact that they have the right to use the road, they don’t care whether or not they SHOULD use the road.
      - Zaccy16
        
        Yeah exactly!
- Amlohac
  
  Those baloons are made from plastic, a plastic that is now going to litter the sourounding environment for the next 10,000 years. Nice one Greenpeace!
  
  Environmentalists can EAD
- Stevo
  
  Had a gutful of the enviro mentals playing God & bullying us all like nazi’s….destroying peoples lives for the sake of their religion.
  Give them all a bullet, I say.
  - Zaccy16
    
    That sounds like a good idea to me
Vins

I guess Greenpeace sounds more like the mouth piece of US organizations . German cars has lowered their CO2 emission tremendously over the years. They should look hard at US cars
- Zaccy16
  
  Yeah they should! just like the stupid green party in this country! to dumb to realise the truth on things!
- Luke Brinsmead
  
  I agree, Greenpeace should focus their attention elsewhere. They mean well, but sometimes they don’t make any sense, as seen with this fiasco.
GGG

Its hard to take organisations like Greenpeace and the “Greens party” seriously, especially when you find most of their supporters know little about nature nor the environment and have probably never set foot outside the city they reside. I recall a story about the former leader of the Greens celebrating the closure of a four wheel drive track in Tasmania. He was so thrilled, he had to take a photo of himself in the affected area to share with the media. So how did he do this? He hitched a helicopter ride to take a 5 minute photo and then get fly to civilisation. Can you believe that?

Fear the extreme greens.
- Legnab
  
  YER lets ban mining at let the buggers freeze in the dark .
- Zaccy16
  
  Yeah the greens party is a joke! the former leader of the party bob brown actually wrote in the paper that he thought he might be up ducted by aliens! We definitely have to fear the greens because the labor party who unfortunately run this country are slaves to them!
  - Yetiman
    
    I don’t think so, we have a hung parliament. This is democracy.
    - Zaccy16
      
      We only have a hung parliament because ju-liar sucked to to a deal with the dreams to get their votes!
      - Yetiman
        
        You would have done the same thing! I don’t see your negativity. We live in a rich and prosperous country, what’s not to like?
      - Labrys
        
        Anyone that uses “ju-liar” in an argument loses all credibility.
        It’s a stupid, disrespectful term and just goes to show the mentality of the person using it.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        The problem is it’s accurate.
      - Labrys
        
        No. It isn’t. It can’t be accurate given that it is a made up word. Not to mention that the argument behind using it is inaccurate. You may disagree with the Prime Minister’s decisions. That’s fine. Heaven knows I hated John Howard and the lies he told to the people to get in government. But I always called him by his name.
        
        It also really angers me when people interviewing the Prime Minister call her by her first name. That is disrespectful in the extreme. They would never have called Jon Howard “John” in an interview. And these are the same sort of people that inflame the use of the term “ju-liar”.
      - Zaccy16
        
        Exactly Karl, she lied about the carbon tax, she lied about every school kid getting a free computer, etc, etc
      - Amlohac
        
        Not to be picky, but technically most of our language is “Made-up”. We have shakespear to thank for that.
      - Phil
        
        …..Zaccy16, you do of course know that the Greens only have one seat in the House of reps right?
        How did the Greens win that seat?
        ON LIBERAL PREFERENCES!
  - Fractured
    
    I was up ducted by an alien once. My duct still hurts…..
    - Labrys
      
      *shurg* I’m not surprised that someone who uses the term “ju-liar” can’t spell either.
      - Amlohac
        
        Whats a “shurg”?
        
        Lol dont mean to troll but mate, you’ve been slapped by the Irony Bat fairly hard there.
      - Labrys
        
        Hahaha. So I have.
        
        It took me a minute to realise.
        I blame google chrome for not catching my mistake.
      - Zaccy16
        
        I can blame google chrome to they stuffed up my spelling Labrys!
Noddy of Toyland

The irony is that they crashed the unveiling of the most fuel efficient car in its class, the tossers. They should swim out to the ships polluting the deep oceans and have a yell at the captain, but of course they wouldn’t because that means stepping outside their comfortable surroundings afforded to them by mass industry and yes, emissions.
- Zaccy16
  
  Exactly! they are dumb arses!
Derp

Someone should’ve got in the car, and run them over!
- Zaccy16
  
  Sounds like a good idea to me!
Robin_Graves

VeeDud have one of the worst whole-of-life CO2 emissions due to their lemon cars being throwaway trash that needs 3 new engines and gearboxes before the warranty runs out. At least they will keep the scrap metal merchants happy with this latest BrownMotion.
- Pinkieponk
  
  toyota troll – paid by toyota
  - Robin_Graves
    
    Lay off the pinkyponk juice.
  - Legnab
    
    No mate he’s a falcoon troll who cries everytime another FG to the dump cause no one wants them .
    
    He just grinds away hoping some smart potential VW buyer might believe his witch hunt tales of woe , unfortunately VW sales just keep climbing .
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
      
      He may have taken it a bit far, but his right, whole of life emissions are more important. You won’t see many Golf still kicking with 600,000ks on the clock, plenty of Falcon examples though.
      The other issue is parts are so expensive that if something like a turbo or DSG went @ 180k it wouldn’t be worth repairing it.
      - AutoMoto
        
        Simple search on the and you find VW can do 400-600T km no problems.
      - Luke Brinsmead
        
        Emissions standards and economic sustainability measures promote people to purchase a new car every 10 to 15 years in Germany, like some other similar highly civilised countries. If the new car uses less fuel than it’s predecessor, it’s better for the planet (usage emissions) while sustaining local auto industries.
        
        If people were to buy a new car every 20 to 25 years, the economic viability of the local auto industry would be compromised. But I agree, a car used for 25 years instead of only 15 years would have less impact on the environment using whole lifecycle assessment, so long as the car is not a gas guzzler.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        You’re correct, the optimal vehicle replacement age and the economic arguement are at odds with each other Especially an industry like ours that needs every sale it can get at the moment. I also agree that when a vehicle needs to be replaced it makes sense to go for a more economical car.
        The average age of the Australian vehicle fleet is 10 years (up from 9.8), 10.8 years in America and 8.5 years in Germany. It’s also silly when people talk about getting older cars off the road for enviromental reasons, doesn’t make sense.
      - Branko
        
        Are you kidding? The only way a Falcon will last is if you replace all the parts twice, including the engine. You could fill a library with stories of Fords self destructing weeks after purchase. VWs and Volvo are well known for their longevity.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass
        
        You’re way off the mark, except about Volvos.
- AJeans
  
  DEAR ROBIN_GRAVES – WE GET IT – YOU HATE VOLKSWAGEN. STOP READING STORIES ABOUT THEM – YOU SAY THE SAME TINGS OVER AND VER AGAIN…..YOUR GETTING QUIT ANNOYING AND BORING
- Motori
  
  Grow the f…up dude.
  I hate VW…. bla bla bla
  You sound like 10 year old kid… Damnnn
  Thanks to them the auto world is moving forward you freak!!!
- RobinGravesisaMoron
  
  My god you’re a goose…and that’s insulting geese.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Karl-Sass/100000921334936 Karl Sass

Greenpeace lol. Most greenies love small European cars like the Golf (in Australia anyway), has a nice PC image. I wounder what a car designed by Greenpeace would look like, biodegradable wheels anyone?
- Luke Brinsmead
  
  PC…people or planet centric?
http://twitter.com/SamMoss8191 Sam Moss

At least VW are trying to manufacture affordable, efficient vehicles that have relatively good environmental credentials. Why don’t Greenpeace target some of the Chinese manufacturers?
- Dave W
  
  Because they love their iPhones and iPads to communicate with each other, watch movies and read books to save the paper from being used so that those trees won’t have to be cut down which is better for the environment.
  
  Am I making any sense? Because they don’t, not to me anyway.
  - Luke Brinsmead
    
    Tablets reduce media consumption emissions buy saving materials, transport, storage and waste. The future is a digital world. It’s sad to see music stores, book stores and news agencies close but the revolution has just began. Soon local libraries will be closing, and that’s very sad.
- Uy23
  
  Because they are part of the same Communist regime. The guy who started the UN IPCC now lives in Beijing!! UN fund Greenpeace. End of story.
Hung Low

Dear Greenies,

In order to help fund the governmental environmental policies you have lobbied for and won, your assistance is required by having most if you getting off your lazy arses and working a job to pay the required TAXES that you all are so adamant that most us regular people should pay and contribute toward your causes.
Amlohac

Dont hug that tree too hard, splinters hurt.
Llorta

Cyclist’ don’t pollute. I have 2 cars a motorcycle and a truck. if I choose to ride a pushbike I can do so on any road I choose as I do pay for the roads! But I don’t ride on the road coz’ it’s too full of ignorant murderous motorists.