I am excited to see the genuine progress by automakers towards fuel efficiency especially when it's delivered with no compromise to safety, comfort and reliability. Volkswagen has cultivated this growing efficiency niche with clean diesel technology, like no one else. Currently, at the time I am writting this article, there are no other brands in the USA that compete with Volkswagen on the pricing of new clean diesel cars.
Despite clear advantages of diesel power that I have mentioned in previous articles, some automakers are still pulling in the reigns on bringing their diesel technology to the USA. Subaru of America has currently ruled out bringing any diesels to the U.S because as they cite in an email " .... as other makers are also noting, the general diesel market in the US is not growing to a position where it can support more diesel entries". Ford Motor Company also mentioned that it is not going to bring over their small car diesel technology to the US , which is popular in Europe. VW, on the other hand is now releasing another new turbo diesel model, the new, larger , Passat sedan. VW seems to feel differently about the need for another diesel entry in the US market. They should, as their cars have produced waiting lists at dealerships stretching more than a year and selling for as much as $10,000 above msrp on the west coast. General Motors also has plans to start offering a diesel option in their Cheverolet Malibu in the near future. Honda/Acura is considering offering a diesel engine for their American SUV segment, it's unclear at this point how soon that might happen. Toyota has also made no official announcement on releasing a diesel option for the US market. However, Toyota has mentioned that they have received a good deal of interest on the matter and will continue to consider this option. I Expect to see a diesel option appear in the Tundra pickup in the next couple of years. Nissan is currently testing a Cummins Diesel engine in their full size Titan pickup and it may be available in showrooms by the 2014 model year, assuming the slow selling Titan model is still around.
Lastly, according to an article in (10/2011) TruckTrend Magazine, Bosch believes that diesel sales will triple in popularity by 2015 to represent 10% of the US market . Bosch expects the 2016 fuel economy regulations will double the number of current nameplates, to around 40 that will offer diesels in the US market.
Stay tuned, it's too early for anyone to discount the role diesel technology will play in the next few years. I expect to see diesel options for consumers not seen in the USA since the 1980's.
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