Diesels Staging A Major Expansion In US, But Have They Shed The Bad Reputation?

The formula for diesel vehicle growth in the U.S. comes down to a simple equation.

As the number of auto makers selling diesels increases, the number of motorists buying them will increase, too, insists Jeff Breneman, executive director of the U.S. Coalition for Advanced Diesel Cars, which represents suppliers to diesel producers.

Breneman tells a meeting of the Midwest Automotive Media Assn. here this week that pending government legislation requiring auto makers to obtain 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100 km) from their vehicle fleets by 2025 has helped stoke interest in oil-burners.

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1c3am5 - 10/24/2011 2:05:28 PM

+2 Boost

All this nonsense about diesel reputation is just that... Nonsense. If this were 1990, perhaps the GM diesels (having ended production around 1985) would be fresh enough in the public's mind. The real reason is that diesel fuel is more expensive, and US pollution standards are tighter than Europe (thus making diesel engine packages more expensive).

And for the record, I knew people who had good experiences with the GM diesels and kept them around as long as they could. Once diesel crept above gasoline, it no longer made sense.

Willis - 10/24/2011 5:06:51 PM

+1 Boost

Well those Cutlass Cruisers were crap. I speak from experience.

1c3am5 - 10/26/2011 8:01:10 AM

+1 Boost

Well no shit Herr Sherlock. I'm saying that a minority of people who actually maintained the GM diesels, and had all the factory updates performed, liked the cars. It was the only way to get 25+ MPG in a big car back then.

My dispute is with the idea that these diesel which ended production 25 years ago are not the reason Americans are truned-off towards diesel. The tighter pollution standards and higher priced diesel fuel do a good enough job of squashing demand.