What Consumers (Still) Say About Diesel

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Consumers’ view of diesel appears to be unchanged after the Volkswagen scandal, suggests a recent NACS survey.

​NEW YORK October 19, 2015; NACSonline reported that the recently released NACS Consumer Fuels Survey reveals that lower gas prices have helped increased consumer optimism about the economy, and for the first time since June, a majority of American consumers (53%) are optimistic about the economy.

The NACS survey of 1,200 fuel consumers, conducted online by Penn Schoen Berland nationally October 6–9, also asked consumers how much they have heard, read or seen recently regarding the Volkswagen scandal, in which the global automaker disclosed that emissions software in four-cylinder diesel vehicles from model years 2009-2015 contained a “defeat device.”

Market Watch reported the survey results, which found about 40% of respondents say they knew “a little” or “nothing at all” about the VW scandal.

The NACS survey also asked consumers how their views on diesel vehicles have changed over the past three to six months, with 73% saying that their views were “about the same as before.” Only 6% said their view was “much more negative towards diesel vehicles.”

Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives, told Market Watch that a word cloud generated from consumer responses to the question “What have you heard recently about Volkswagen?” populated “emissions” as the key word, followed by “cheating,” “lied,” “scandal” and “false.”

Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), told Market Watch that it remains to be seen how far the VW scandal will set back diesel’s progress in changing consumer perception that it’s a dirty, smelly fuel.

Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, also commented that “there will be a stigma of poor performance for diesel, or a credibility gap, and consumers will likely opt for gasoline vehicles or hybrids,” noting that it’s difficult “to educate consumers on the advantages of diesel when they see the prices well above gasoline for much of the year, and the VW credibility legacy will hurt any efforts to educate.”