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Extensive investigation of customer relevant driving usages in Adam Opel AG led to the definition of an "OPEL off-cycle"-test procedure which includes all relevant driving conditions in global customer use. Special attention was paid to the important impact of the driving style: OPEL off-cycle is evaluated in economy as well as in dynamic driving style. Purpose is to reduce the impact of the driving style on off-cycle fuel consumption. Extensive analysis of in-house and competitive vehicles in this off-cycle test result in a broad database of forecasts for fuel consumption of various vehicles in a global environment. Based on these studies, NEDC and FTP-cycle were reviewed on the basis of evaluation factors to investigate the practical relevance of these cycles and derive potential for improvement of future fuel consumption cycles. Under favorable driving conditions in Europe, NEDC fuel consumption can be achieved and even slightly undercut. Compared to typical driving conditions, by contrast, the average speed, vehicle acceleration and thus the energy provided by the vehicle in the cycle are too low. As a consequence, fuel consumption in NEDC cycle is about 20 % lower than in OPEL off-cycle under economy driving style. If the customer deliberately prefers a dynamic driving style, the difference increases up to 50 % and can even result in higher values. The conclusions of the OPEL off-cycle investigations founded the basis to evaluate different scenarios of a future fuel consumption drive cycle WLTP (Worldwide Light Duty Test Procedure). They are the baseline for the development of the WLTP which has been started under the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations WP 29 process. The UN ECE WP 29 is the international forum with participation of all major countries to discuss and approve globally harmonized standards. Simulations of several versions of a GIobally Harmonized Cycle (GHC) based on the WLTP-database were performed and the impact on fuel consumption of selected vehicles of the Adam Opel AG product portfolio was calculated. The OPEL off-cycle investigation allowed to evaluate the GHC-versions in terms of relevance under public driving conditions. To allow the definition of a globally harmonized fuel consumption drive cycle that covers all the different driving conditions in worldwide customer use, a partition of GHC in Tour modules is proposed. Composing these standardized modules such as urban (low speed), rural (mid speed) or highway (high speed) specifically for a region should allow to reflect the regional driving conditions in the advertised fuel consumption of a vehicle.