This is why you can no longer buy some of the best hybrid cars in the UK

A HOST of hybrid models have been pulled from shelves, as car makers focus their resources on building petrol and diesel cars.

September’s new stricter emissions standards have created a backlog in production, forcing orders for some of the best-selling German hybrids to be sidelined until next year.

Volkswagen has stopped orders for its hybrid Golf and Passat models, both of which are only likely to re-appear next year – the Passat GTE along with a facelift too, according to motors site .

VW Group’s Porsche brand has also axed orders for the Panamera and Cayenne E-Hybrid models.

Further to that, Porsche announced last week that it will no longer sell any diesel cars, having stopped orders in February.

Audi’s A3 Sportback e-tron and Q7 e-tron SUV can now only be ordered subject to current stock availability.

That’s also the case for BMW’s X5, 3 Series and 7 Series iPerformance models, however, the German marquee will release their respective new-generation hybrids next year.

BMW is still selling hybrid versions of its 2 Series, 5 Series and i8 supercar.

Meanwhile, the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure) standards also triggered a mass clear out of new and discounted cars at the end of August, as they no longer adhered to the tougher CO2 rules.

A record-breaking 94,094 vehicles were registered with the DVLA in August – a whopping 23 per cent more than that of the previous year.

Hybrid cars accounted for 3,508 of those – and, although a small figure compared to traditionally-fuelled cars – it represented a 57 per cent rise year on year.

The Dieselgate fallout also contributed to delivery delays for VW Group cars, with a ripple effect caused by engineers busy with refitting cars to resolve the issue, as opposed to focusing on WLTP changes.

Thomas Zahn, VW’s Head of Sales and Marketing in Germany, admitted that just seven out of 14 models sold in Europe were WLTP-certified before the September 1 cut-off.