Detroit Auto Show: GM Going Diesel For SUV's?

DETROIT, Jan 6, 2003; Michael Ellis writing for Reuters reports that General Motors Corp. is considering offering diesel engines on its sport utility vehicles sold in North America to help boost fuel economy, a top company official said on Monday.

GM is expanding capacity for its diesel engines on its full-size pickup trucks sold in North America, and could also offer them on their large sport utility vehicles to consumers wishing to save money on fuel, said Gary Cowger, head of GM's North American operations.

But U.S. clean air laws could prevent their widespread use in passenger cars unless the laws are rewritten, he said.

"Diesels in cars here, because of the way pollution and the ways the laws are written... diesels are not appropriate unless we get some rule changes. They are in trucks," Cowger said.

More fuel efficient diesel engines have taken off in Europe, and now represent around 40 percent of all new vehicle sales. Diesels achieve higher fuel economy but also emit more pollutants.

But many in the auto industry are skeptical that Americans, who remember the sputtering and smelly diesel engines of the past, will want cars with diesel engines. Relatively cheap gasoline in the United States offsets the added costs of diesel engines, officials have said.

However, John Smith, GM's head of vehicle sales, service and marketing in North America, said that he thinks that the regulatory opposition to diesel engines is changing.

"I sense that the door is swinging open on the regulatory front to more diesels," he told Reuters in an interview. "I've always thought that there was a big opportunity in this market for diesels. Today's diesels are very elegant, high performance machines."

An alternative to diesels could be hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, which save fuel by using batteries. GM announced plans on Monday to offer hybrid gas-electric motors as an option on at least seven vehicles by 2007, which combined with new technologies, could boost fuel economy from 15 to 50 percent.