Honda skipping the plug-in hybrids....

[velvetfoot]

No.
The reason there haven't been more diesel cars is Detroit's efforts sucked.
I've driven my TDI Beetle to Utah and back and it's very comfortabe and gets 50 mpg-currently have 210k miles on it.
Now, it seems to me the barrier will be the high price of diesel.
However, the siren call is strong:
(broken link removed to http://www.vw.com/vwbuzz/browse/en/us/detail/Jetta_SportWagen_makes_U_S_debut_at_New_York_International_Auto_Show/136)
http://www.autoblog.com/2007/05/08/diesel-vw-jetta-sportwagen-a-real-fuel-sipper/

 

[titan]

Here's a candidate for a bio-diesel retrofit:maybe that would offset the high c.d.a.

 

[TMonter]

The reason there haven’t been more diesel cars is Detroit’s efforts sucked.

If this were the case other car manufacturers would be offering diesels but they are not. The fact is most diesels could not meet the 2005 and 2008 NOx standards which is why they were not offered.

 

[velvetfoot]

???

Remember the Diesel Olds of the '80's? Probably not.

Yes the NOx finally knocked off most diesel cars here, but VW sold them in 2006.
(broken link removed)

I think Mercedes came back sooner than VW.

http://www.mbusa.com/models/main.do?modelCode=E320BTEC

 

[TMonter]

Remember the Diesel Olds of the ‘80’s? Probably not.

Actually I do. My roommate in college had a 79' VW rabbit. It was underpowered, noisy and hard starting in the winter. Mileage was all it had going for it. (about 40 MPG)

Yes the NOx finally knocked off most diesel cars here, but VW sold them in 2006.

As I said most car manufacturers did not offer a diesel in recent years because of emissions. No one wants to go through engine development for a model that will only sell for three maybe four years before being illegal to sell.

I think Mercedes came back sooner than VW.

Bah Mercedes is basically an overpriced VW.

base price is more than 50k, no way they'll sell more than a handful of cars in relative terms.

 

[webbie]

Die, Hummer!

 

[KeithO]

The BIG change in emissions in the USA came late summer of 2006. Prior to that, most diesel vehicles in the US didn't have ANY form of aftertreatment other than a silencer and possibly some EGR. Soot filters have been introduced in Europe in 1999, so it took 8 years of naysaying until they arrived here (mandated by the EPA). Most of the current crop of European diesels will meet NOx requirements in the US until 2010. Then selective catalytic reduction (Urea injection) will be required in most cases. But guess what, the european regulations will require similar amounts of NOx reduction just a few years later, so the OE's will lose nothing by developing the technology for the US market earlier.

Just so we remember, SCR for NOx reduction has been in production in Europe on Mercedes trucks since 2003, which means that the technology would have been in production for 7 years before it becomes commercially available here in the US in 2010.

So the answer is not that the emission limits couldn't have been complied with. The reality is that gas has historically been so cheap that the car manufacturers (and many consumers) didn't give a damn. Add to that the fact that the US diesel quality has lagged behind the rest of the world (comparable to Russia) in terms of sulphur content and that is why better emission controls were not seen until the 2007 EPA regs FORCED the sulphur in the diesel to be cleaned up. With that, a lot of the odor problems associated with diesel will go away. Once many americans get to see what great motors the present generation of diesels are, they will never consider another gas motor again. 70% market share in Europe for diesel engines wasn't achieved because they ran like buckets of nails.

Remember the Diesel Olds of the ‘80’s? Probably not.

Actually I do. My roommate in college had a 79' VW rabbit. It was underpowered, noisy and hard starting in the winter. Mileage was all it had going for it. (about 40 MPG)

Yes the NOx finally knocked off most diesel cars here, but VW sold them in 2006.

As I said most car manufacturers did not offer a diesel in recent years because of emissions. No one wants to go through engine development for a model that will only sell for three maybe four years before being illegal to sell.

I think Mercedes came back sooner than VW.

Bah Mercedes is basically an overpriced VW.

base price is more than 50k, no way they'll sell more than a handful of cars in relative terms.