Automakers warming up to diesel-powered cars
Consumer buy-in likely will depend on selling new image
Chris Woodyard
USA TODAY
May 9, 2005
LOS ANGELES - After watching rising gas prices fuel demand for gasoline-electric hybrids, some automakers are hoping diesels will be next.
And as they fine-tune the technology, they got a boost from President Bush, who said he wants diesel-power passenger vehicles to get a tax break, similar to the deduction for gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
If consumers warm up to diesels - no sure bet - automakers want to be ready:
DaimlerChrysler says 60,000 consumers indicated early interest in the diesel version of its Jeep Liberty SUV. It expects to make 5,000 this year and hinted that it can produce more if the demand remains strong.
Volkswagen is in the process of rolling out a diesel version of its new Jetta.
BMW, Honda and Subaru are working on diesels that could go on sale in the United States in the next few years.
Ford Motor and the Environmental Protection Agency are working on a project to create a sophisticated, extremely low-emissions diesel engine.
Diesels use 20 percent to 40 percent less fuel than comparable gasoline engines. And diesel fuel coming to market starting later this year will have lower sulfur content, reducing emissions dramatically.
Bush's proposal, included in a speech last week, "gives producers added confidence that incentives are available," says Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum trade group.
Still, consumers might resist. Some harbor bad memories of Detroit's balky diesel car engines in the 1980s. And diesels haven't whipped up the kind of excitement that surrounds gasoline-electric hybrids.
A Kelley Blue Book/Harris Interactive poll in March found only one-third of car shoppers surveyed said they would be willing to consider a diesel, in contrast to nearly two-thirds - 65 percent - who said they would consider a hybrid.
Last year, more than 12 percent of Volkswagen's U.S. sales were diesel versions of four models: the Passat midsize sedan and the New Beetle, Golf and Jetta small cars. Volkswagen has yet to offer a diesel version of its SUV, the Touareg, in the United States.
DaimlerChrysler began offering a diesel Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI last year. To show it off, Mercedes drove some E320s around a track in Laredo, Texas, for the past month, logging 100,000 miles on one before the test ended Sunday. Mercedes sold about 4,100 of the sedans last year, 1,100 more than expected, spokesman Rob Moran says.
