Here is a news article that may be of interest to some of you:


RICHARD RUSSELL

From Thursday's Globe and Mail



Diesel passenger vehicle engines have been largely ignored in North America although they have long been a standard in long-haul and industrial applications as well as in larger pleasure boats, motor homes and pickups.

In a bit of irony, they have also been a stalwart in the Mercedes-Benz lineup of expensive, luxury vehicles. Volkswagen has long been the primary purveyor of diesels in the affordable end of the market, but other than a few miserable attempts by domestic manufacturers a couple of decades ago, the family car and diesel engines have remained unrelated.

But consumer demands and expectations are changing, thanks to volatile fuel prices and supply scares.

Toss into this mix the ever-competitive international auto industry, regulatory authorities concerned with exhaust emissions and the oil industry and you have a set of variables and factors worthy of a novel.

But the bottom line is the bottom line. North American consumers are finally becoming aware of fuel prices and operating costs. They are also becoming aware of the advantages of diesel engines. This combination of factors has long been in play in Europe where diesel engines capture more than half of the passenger vehicle market.

With rising demands and expectations, it would seem possible to simply import the diesel engines and the vehicles sold in Europe to satisfy the growing demand for diesel efficiency on these shores. But it isn't that easy due to emission standards that require much cleaner fuel and engines.

However, refineries are being forced by regulations to produce and make available cleaner diesel fuel. New technology is being developed and utilized to take advantage of the cleaner fuel and meet tighter restrictions.

A new diesel era is approaching rapidly, and it is widely believed diesel sales will quickly outpace hybrid sales. The new diesel movement will be led initially by the European companies, especially Mercedes, VW and Audi, which have vast experience with diesels.

But the fever is spreading. Honda has announced a new clean diesel, and BMW is working on its own version. And the domestic players are also getting into the game. By 2010, GM plans to make new-generation diesel engines available in Cadillac and Saturn cars, as well as across a wide range of other cars, SUVs and light trucks.

Diesels offer 30-per-cent more fuel mileage than equivalent gas engines, require little maintenance and offer unmatched reliability and longevity.

Until now, they have also been noisy, smelly and lacking in power compared with gasoline engines. But all of those issues have been addressed by the new-generation diesels.

A recent issue of trade journal Automotive News says Siemens VDO Automotive Corp., the largest supplier of diesel fuel injection systems, predicts diesel sales will grow to almost 900,000 units by 2012 from the current level of 650,000, with hybrid sales reaching 510,000 units by 2012 from 193,000 this year. Hidden in those numbers is the fact that other than a few thousand Mercedes and Jeep passenger vehicles all the current diesel-engine sales are in heavy-duty pickups.

VW is expected to have its new-generation diesel on the market next year, and within two years we can expect Audi, Chrysler, BMW, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota all to offer diesel passenger vehicles.

GM is leaning on affiliates Isuzu in Japan and VM Motori of Italy to develop the next generation of diesel.

GM is developing a turbocharged V-6 displacing more than four litres for light-duty pickups, crossovers and SUVs. VM Motori, in which GM recently bought a 50-per-cent stake, is developing a 3.0-litre V-6 for passenger cars that will go to Cadillac, Opel and Saturn first.

 

good. more reason to jack up the diesel price. i dont want hippies to get the same satisfaction i get from driving a diesel...isnt anything sacred anymore

brett

 

Well that's not very nice..