Diesel Sales Up as Gas Prices Rise

I used to be impressed by GM's apparent diversified interest in gasoline alternatives. The short-sighted decision to scrap light-duty diesel programs was a very bad management error.

Consumers are fickle. Increased gas prices drive sales of small vehicles up. Decreased diesel prices drive sales of diesel vehicles up. It's not like things are going to stay the same tomorrow, next week, or next year.

The 4.5 Duramax in a 1/2 ton would have been a great engine at the right time.

I hate to say it, but this illustrates the poor long term thinking that exists among some consumers *and* domestic auto companies. The price of fuel will fluctuate, so one has to look at a longer timeline. I think diesel does make sense in the long run, and did last summer too, even though the $5.00 per gallon price for diesel made that a little murky. You can't just make major financial decisions with such a limited outlook.

And now GM doesn't have the 4.5 to sell now that the demand is starting to shift a bit. Yes, I know they were desperate to conserve cash, but I wonder if they'll ever bring that engine out, particularly now that they've sold their soul to the government, who has only been too willing to use the situation to seize even more control.

yeah that 335d looks pretty good. Now if only BMW would go for a 5 series diesel.

I wouldn't be too concerned. When the economy picks up enough to drag long distance trucking and locomotive train shipping out of their respective doldrums, the price of diesel will outrun gasoline again; there is less available worldwide supply and more worldwide demand than there is for gasoline, and absent the recession US supplies no longer satisfy US demand.

I guess Ed is impressed with all the diesels being rolled out by Toyota and Honda. Does EVERY story have to incorporate Big 3 bashing? Media double standards kill your credibility. WHy is no one asking for diesels from the Japanese? is there ONE Japanese brand diesel powered vehicle sold in the US?

1487, I tend to agree. I can't fault the medium sized 3 for failing to sell cars that Americans have consistently demonstrated their indifference to.

On the other hand, perhaps if they had made a real attempt to generate buzz and interest there would be a market. GM and Ford both sell tons of diesels in Europe, so it's not like they don't have the technological know how.

Diesels can offer a level of refinement consistent with gas these days and the immediate and copious amounts of torque a modern TD produces fits perfectly with US preferences. Throw in the extreme durability that is typically associated with modern diesel engines and you should have a car the Americans love. That we don't is as much due to the Detroit 3;s unwillingness to make the effort to engage us as anything else.

bankerdanny:

In this day and age I cannot believe folks continue to be obloivious to the fact that the US is not Europe. Have you ever wondered why diesels from Europe arent sold here? In Europe diesel is CHEAPER and there are tax breaks in some cases for diesel engines to defray the higher up front cost. In addition, most Euro diesels are not 50 state legal which is why GM, Ford, BMW and others generally don't offer their European diesels in the US. The new clean diesels are such a big deal because they are the first modern diesels that can be sold in all 50 states. Please spare me generalizations about how the Big 3 refuse to engage.

Extreme durability is a non issue for most car owners since most folks get a new car before they hit 100k miles and gas engines can exceed that figure easily.

The fact that VW and MB sell a few diesels is not a sign of massive pent up demand. GM sells 30k Corvettes a year but that doesn't mean most Americans want a 2 seat V8 sports car. Its a niche, just like diesels.

"If there's any bad news to the recent equalization of diesel and gasoline prices, it's the inability of the Big Three to capitalize on it. Chrysler, Ford and GM all cut their light-duty diesel truck programs and the chances of them restarting those programs anytime soon are slim."

That doesn't sound like "big three bashing" to me. It sounds like commiseration with the big three and their plight. In other words, it sucks that they are having financial trouble which has hurt their ability to bring new diesels to market at a time when they could benefit from.

Take the chip off your shoulder, sheesh.

I've always been curious as to why most Europeon diesels don't meet US clean air standards. Europeans are more concerned with clean air then Americans.

Ignoring the vast number of diesel big rigs, pick ups and other equipment all putting large amounts of diesel smoke into the air, the government choose to pick a number that blocked the highly efficent diesel cars that are so common everywhere else.

I have hunch a lot of lobbying was done by the big three to protect their markets. They know they don't have a competitive diesel engine and don't want to invest the money to design one.

Instead we have to listen to endless myths like diesel cost more then gasoline, there's not enough of it, diesel cars are slow or noisy, etc.

Sure the US is not Europe. However the long distances and highways in the US are even better for diesels then crowded Europe. They make much more sense then hybrids unless you do all your driving downtown (in which case public transit is the best choice).

Basically, Europe's emission standards are more strict on C02 emissions and less strict on particulates. Califor-I mean the US's emissions standards are less focused on C02 emissions and place the emphasis on particulates, because LA is a smog trap. Diesels, as you can see visibly, generate more particulates than gasoline, and since they are more efficient, generate less C02.

And for some still unreconciled reason, diesel did in fact cost DOLLARS more than gas last year this time in the US. This seems to be isolated to the US for some reason. Canada remained stable eh?

The only time I saw diesel more then regular was when the price of oil plummented last fall. The price of gas fell faster then diesel and for a short time diesel cost more.

Right now diesel is about 20 cents/litre less then regular or about 80 cents per US gallon.