Volkswagen’s new Twin-charger petrol engine is likely to force used buyers to revise their opinions of small turbocharged engines and even outperform diesel-engined variants on the secondhand market.

Alan Cole, editor of EurotaxGlass’s Market Intelligence Unit, believes the 1.4 TSI engine, now available in the Golf GT, will force the market to reconsider.

He said: ‘This engine also has the real prospect of taking some share of the ever-increasing diesel market. Diesels command a significant price premium over petrol variants, but many consumers do not cover sufficient mileage to ever recoup that investment through improved fuel economy.

‘The TSI unit has a low CO2 rating which provides a benefit in kind tax rating below that of many diesel cars, while the combination of competitive pricing and good economy may for many stack the odds in favour of the petrol car.’

Unusually for a petrol-engined derivative, the residual value forecast for the TSI is predicted to be a higher percentage of the original cost new when compared to the equivalent diesel-engined version.

‘The utilisation of new technology that enables the downsizing of engines to more efficiently-sized units is likely to be an industry trend that we see more of in coming years,’ Cole added.