Will Skyrocketing Prices Derail The German Diesel Juggernaut?

Daimler AG has already accused the Oil Industry for trying to sabotage the diesel uprising in the U.S. with high prices for a fuel which takes less time, energy, and costs less to produce than gasoline. It doesnt make any sense.

Diesel used to be cheaper, and still should be. What I wonder is why nobody has already raised this issue until now.

of course: vehicles using 70% as much fuel at 70% of the cost of converting crude to gasoline results in revenues of only 50% of current ones.
Of course the oil companies are trying to kill diesel sales.

The DOJ should look into this.
It truly is criminal!

What about car companies charging a premium for diesel engines? I realize that diesel engines must be built stronger to withstand the higher compressions but does it really justify a higher premium? Instead of lightweight and exotic metals (aluminum, magnesium, etc) they use cast iron, etc.

"Of course the oil companies are trying to kill diesel sales."
You`re wrong . In europe goverments with car makers are trying to enlarge diesel sales by adding them tax advantage . But now even tax advantage can`t help becouse peoples bought to many diesels and diesel fuel is now more expensive than petrol and peoples are coming back to petrol :

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/04/high-diesel-prices-and-pollution-concerns-put-off-potential-buye/

"A bit of surprising news comes from Germany, where one out of four diesel owners state that their next new car will likely be a gasoline vehicle, thanks in part to the complexity of owning a diesel and the high repair costs. Things even look worse for old models: those cars not fitted with Diesel Particulate Filters aren't likely to be purchased second hand (and will probably end up in Southern Europe), mostly due to the restrictions in some cities."

i still dont get why after years of diesel being cheaper than gasoline, the diesel gradually rose in price way faster than gas, so diesel prices were higher than gasoline's. diesel cars have to have better mpg's than ever before to offset the overly high diesel prices.

Daimler AG has already accused the Oil Industry for trying to sabotage the diesel uprising in the U.S. with high prices for a fuel which takes less time, energy, and costs less to produce than gasoline. It doesnt make any sense.

Diesel used to be cheaper, and still should be. What I wonder is why nobody has already raised this issue until now.

I got a 2 for 1!. Sumbmit once, and u get a bonus right under. Autospies.com still has some glitches that need to be looked at.

Its not that just raising the price on the diesel that doesn’t make sense, but the gas too, there're truly no reasons, all this propaganda of high demand is bull shit, its nothing but greediness of the oil company owners who will never say enough. We used to say the government must do something, but now days the government is part of the gang too, so at whose direction do we need to scream?

Depends if consumers are smart enough to figure out that driving certain diesel cars can save you money.

Most people i talk to about diesels just cring in fear of the more expensive gas unable to comprehend the logic that i feed them.

You already wrote this article, 009.

w209 is completely right, and so is EvoAudi in saying that you just need to do the math. How much do you drive per year? How long do you plan on keeping the car? What kind of MPG does it get? You'll see if you save money.

Oh, I feel liberated, I finally have Whatthe's stamp of approval. I shall host a celebration. Pop the champagne cork.

Or, ride a bike.

I don't give a damn about the environment.

I'll buy cars with styling I want.

if you cared about the environment you'd sign a petition to ban hybrid cars, or any electric cars based on huge amounts of rare materials that cannot be easily recycled.

But then, you'd also have to be smart enough to understand the big-picture and "whole product life-cycle" environmental impact ... something that seems beyond the Toyota Marketing trolls of Huu and MT.

And if YOU really cared about the environment, MichaelTaylor, you would chase a ball into the path of a moving Prius or LS600h -- stop being such a waste of existence!

BTW, nimrod, Toyota does make diesel engines.

Funny you should say that.
The Lexus Ls600 is the most over hyped Hybrid..
And the new Diesels coming from Europe are CLEANER than the Prius... that's right MichaelTaylor... the emit less CO2 than the Prius.
Let's not forget the batteries.... OUCH!!!

I agree with EL34, i don't give a damn about how clean my car is.
The only reason why i drive a fuel efficient car is because fuel costs 1,60 euros per litre overhere.

btw, i WISH gas was $3.79 a gallon!

@ damikco,

So are you suggesting not having more diesel options because of fear and assumptions?

diesel was cheaper than gas until vw introduced the tdi. amazingly, even thought not many were sold, the prices flipped the other way. this back around 2000.

Very intersting comments.

I personally think this article was inherently biased towards gasoline hybrids as well. And as most people pointed out...all you have to do is the math. Unfortunatly most people don't do the math. The see that diesel is more expensive than gas (by a lot) and they instantly start equating that to the amount of fuel they put in their current gas vehicle. So their equation leads to this conclusion "Why would I want to pay more in gas for the same size car?!"

Wrong as it may be...this is the end result none the less. Leaving the conspiricy theory off the table that diesel prices might be "fixed" the whole consideration that there will not be a new refinery being built for another 3-5 year is highly suspect in and of itself. Why would we not expedite this process. We have plenty of infrastrucure and areas to place a refinery...why have we not built one already. As a matter of fact, why haven't we built one in the last 30 years? All of those are questions that talk to diesels having a problem.

Onto the final point...

Hybrids

While I am a diesel fan...I don't hate hybrids. Now before I get slamed by my fellow diesel fans, let me explain.

Current Hybrids, the Honda and the Toyota Pious ;-), are not the hybrids I speak of. They use gas engines to power the vehicle. This is increadibly inefficient and sucks power like a vacum cleaner. The better option would be a diesel hybrid or even better bio-diesel hybrid. However not in the manner most people expect.

Like I said using the petrol engine to drive the vehicle is inefficient in a hybrid. Having the battery drive the vehicle is the way to produce more power and maintain high mpg. The fuel engine you would need would not be connected to the cars drive shaft at all. It would be connect to the battery alone. Acting only as a generator. Now as for why I said diesel or bio-diesel...fuel engines produce an optimal power output at a specific RPM, this is why we look at powerbands on a dyno. If you want to run an engine a long time at a consistant rate you want two things 1. Low RPM (this reduces wear and tear not to mention consumption) 2. High Torque...

Enter the diesel engine. This combination along with plug in capability at home would allow you to drastically change the structure of a vehicle to match any shape your imagination could come up with. Because the engine would act as a generator to recharge the battery when the plug-in charge ran low...all it would have to be size of a medium sized microwave oven. Which could be placed anywhere in your design. This would give you all the benifits you could possible want without sacrificing anything.

Well enough of my $.02

Not really, if I am looking for something that's fuel efficient and sporty I'll buy a diesel.

Gasoline hybrid is only good for daily commute (to be more specific .. to work).