DaimlerChrysler to Start Selling Diesel-Powered Autos in Japan Next Year

TOKYO October 15, 2005; The AP reported that German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG plans to start selling diesel-powered passenger vehicles in Japan next year amid concerns about rising gasoline prices in a country that imports nearly all its oil, a news report said Saturday.

DaimlerChrysler stopped selling diesel models in Japan in 2002 but will resume sales in the fall of 2006, possibly with versions of the Mercedes C- and E-Class luxury sedans, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported, without saying where it got its information.

The diesel vehicles will cost about 200,000 yen to 400,000 yen ($1,750 to $3,500) more than respective gasoline-powered models, giving them a markup similar to that for hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, the report said.

Officials at DaimlerChrysler in Japan were unavailable for comment Saturday.

Diesel-powered cars are more fuel efficient than gasoline-powered ones but are less popular because they emit more particulate matter and other pollutants in their exhaust. While sales of diesel cars are growing sharply in Europe, they accounted for only 0.1 percent of the passenger cars sold in Japan in 2002, the newspaper said.

Gasoline prices have skyrocketed in Japan in recent months. The country is especially sensitive to overseas disruptions such as hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico because it imports nearly all its oil.

Automakers including DaimlerChrysler have been working on ways to make diesel-powered cars more environmentally friendly.