German Automakers Make a Show for Diesels in U.S.

Washington DC January 16, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that Volkswagen and Mercedes both made strong showings with clean-burning diesel vehicles last week at the Detroit Auto Show, and even Toyota says it will consider a diesel version of its new Tundra full-size pickup to launch later this year.

According to The Detroit Free Press, every major automaker is either studying the feasibility for diesels in the U.S. or has already committed to building more for the market.

"Eventually, if you look far enough out in the crystal ball, we’ll have a lot of diesels in the United States, to try and cope with the environment and fuel costs issues," said Toyota’s U.S. President and COO Jim Press.

Experts say sales of diesels could rise to 15 percent of total sales by 2015.

In an interview last week in Detroit, VW Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder said that in the case of larger vehicles, "diesels will be the choice, for the simple reason you don’t need high revs and high performance, you need high torque.

People get used to high-torque engines," said Pischetsrieder. "If any country requires desperately high torque because of the driving conditions, it’s the U.S. market."

Diesel versions of VW’s popular Jetta accounted for 30 percent of sales last year, despite the fact the vehicles are banned from being sold in five states.

DaimlerChrysler AG unveiled a new line of diesel engines last week that will power a number of Mercedes models. The automaker says that the new engines will meet all current emissions standards, which will allow them to be sold in all 50 states later this year.

Honda, Nissan, General Motors, and Ford are among the other major automakers who are studying diesel truck and car models for the U.S. market.