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Automotive News & Views What Would It Take for YOU to buy a diesel car?
1503 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 1:11 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Sure, diesels are practical. But fun? Volkswagen sets out to prove the two ideas are not mutually exclusive with the Concept BlueSport unveiled here today. Equipped with VW's signature TDI clean diesel engine, the midengine roadster concept has an average fuel consumption of 42 mpg, or 50 mpg on the highway. In theory, the roadster can go 710 miles between fill-ups while meeting emissions standards in all 50 states. http://www.autonews.com/article/20090111/ANA02/901119989/1115 (registration link) If this ever makes it to the States, it would be the first fun-to-drive diesel car sold here, even as we await the first fun-to-drive hybrid car, which looks like it will be the Honda CRZ, debuting next year. Of course, the CRZ hybrid will make better mileage than the Civic hybrid sedan it shares parts with, and that model can be had for $22K and ALREADY makes an average fuel consumption of 42 mpg. The CRZ is promised to start under $20K, and will probably match the VW TDI roadster for average and highway fuel economy. I think odds are that the Honda will find more buyers than the VW, as people are getting more used to hybrids all the time while diesels cannot fully shake off their bad rep from the 80s. As hybrids expand, the question remains: will there be enough potential diesel car buyers to make it worth it for automakers to invest in making more available?
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Replying to: nippononly (Jan 13, 2009 8:02 am)  Good question about having enough potential buyers to justify selling it in North America. Hybrid sales have crashed along with the price of gasoline. But the diesel tech shouldn't be as expensive to implement as the hybrid stuff I'm guessing, so maybe VW could price it right. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Jan 13, 2009 8:02 am) VW (one of the standard bearers) has and will continue to benefit; and in fact is constructing a TN plant to put out  least 1 US made diesel model. This is not to say they did not have to suffer along the way (multi million to billion $ losses), due to the over whelming bias AGAINST D2 passenger cars. (less than 1/5 of 1% of the passenger vehicle fleet ( of 254.1 M) is D2 ) So I am sure VW finds itself in a catch 22 situation. They want diesel models to take off, but want NO real competition!? VW will probably TRY to make as much hay as they can while the D2 issues are in the so called "perfect storm" scenario. Almost all the oem's that have signalled an interest in bringing D2 passenger cars have let their schedules slip. 2009 VW TDI's are really the only game in town. BMW is less than 5 per dealership to must order. I called one BMW dealership to inquire and they flat said ZERO inventory, but please come down (see the gassers in stock) to order a D2 BMW 335 D twin turbo. A day later, they had located one from another dealership and had it delivered and I was able to demo; first customer test miles. |
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Replying to: gregg_vw (Jan 12, 2009 10:24 am)
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Replying to: investor27 (Jan 13, 2009 10:14 am)
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Replying to: gagrice (Jan 13, 2009 10:59 am) It will be interesting what the actual real world mpg will be. I think anything over 25 mpg ( real world 25-32 mpg) will make the V6 Touareg a hit ! link title |
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Replying to: investor27 (Jan 13, 2009 10:14 am) |
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The answer is NO turbo diesel premium !!!  Now that we are on a roll, D2 cheaper than RUG to PUG. Anything less than that and you can rest assured the "system" is NOT serious about the actual passenger car percentage switch to so called "alternative fuel". |
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"Remember those diesel-engine light-duty pickups we're supposed to be seeing this year? Get ready to hear the words "back burner" in relation to those product plans. One other factor continues to weigh on the resolve of the Detroit automakers to carry out their diesel-pickup plans: the cost of diesel fuel remains stubbornly high in relation to gasoline. Although diesels are expected to return about 25 percent better fuel economy than a comparably-powered gasoline engine, diesel fuel continues to be priced markedly more than 25 percent higher than gasoline at the retail pump. If the fuel-economy advantage of diesel is erased by the cost of the fuel, the automakers believe even fewer customers will opt to lay out the considerable extra cost for the diesel-engine option" Diesel Pickups Dumped By Detroit? (AutoObserver)
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Replying to: steve_ (Jan 16, 2009 8:41 pm) I am ready to replace my Dodge Dakota (semi-hemi V8) with a Dak powerd with a 4-cylinder detroit diesel. Dodge has manufactured these things in Brazil for a long time... all they have to to is bring them to North America! I want a pickup truck which is diesel... but NOT full-sized and NOT designed for raw pulling abilities. VW used to build the Rabbit-Pickup in Latrobe Pennslyvania. Toyota used to sell small diesel pickups too. I also question the use of the words "comparitivly powered gasoline engine"... just what does this mean? Deisels are not really big on horsePower, they rely on TORQUE to motivate the vehicle. Comparing the power between gasoline and diesel is just plain stupid. My VW Jetta TDI is rated at 90 HorsePower.... but can easilly out-accellerate a gasoline engine with same displacement engine. As they say -- > People buy horsepower... but drive torque.
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