never said anything about E85, it has its issues as well.

I just want to know where all these diesels are that have been announced. Several people here have said “everyone” but GM has committed to diesels in the US car market. Other than Honda I heave heard NOTHING about near term non luxury diesel powered cars. Toyota JUST announced it will have a diesel for their trucks/SUVs here in a few years. Again, GM already has a diesel for truck duty. In addition, GM is working on a new 2.9L turbo diesel for the CTS and they have not said the engine wont come to america. Some have said the CTS, next Aura and BRX will have the engine.

While diesel cars are more efficient it has to be remembered that the up front cost is higher and diesel sint cheaper. These are problems the government can address but has chosen not to address. These are not Lutz problems or GM problems, they are national problems that need to be worked on if diesel is to catch on.

BTW, when have Ford, Chrysler or Hyundai said ANYTHING about offering diesel cars in the US?

Diesel prices in the U.S. are almost the opposite of Europe – diesel is sometimes higher than gasoline, especially during the winter months when heating oil demand is up in the colder regions, particularly the northeast, of which 60% of homes are heated with heating oil, which is almost the same as diesel. Right now, I pay $3.59 a gallon for diesel, while premium 93 octane gasoline is $3.49 a gallon, and regular 87 octane gasoline is $3.19-$3.29 a gallon. So I’m paying $0.30 a gallon premium for diesel right now. Sometimes its even higher, but during the summer, it usually becomes slightly cheaper or the same price as regular gasoline. The U.S. doesn’t have different tax structures for diesel versus gas – most states tax the two fuels the same.

My mileage has gotten very bad and it costs the same…..so my net loss.

Thank-you to the US of A government.

Maybe it will catch on after people ride in a modern diesel powered car coming to the U.S., and word of mouth changes their perception. But that will likely take a decade or more. Word of mouth perceptions are slow to change.

It is interesting that virtually every foreign automaker has announced they will offer diesel powered cars in the U.S. within the next 3 years. Honda, Nissan, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, just to name a few. Are they all wrong about the U.S. market? With all of these companies posting large sales increases in the U.S. market over the last 20 years, I don’t think they’re wrong. I don’t think you should always follow the herd, but GM’s diesel attitude could leave GM vulnerable and without good product once again.

more stupid commentary. GM makes a lot of diesels in Europe where THEY ARE PRACTICAL. Currently BMW sells ZERO disels in the US while GM has the duramax in its pikcups and another one on the way. BMW has announced plans for TWO products that will have diesels in the US and both will have substantial premiums over the gas engines. In a luxury car this is easier to pass off but in a sub $25k mainstream car that diesel premium isnt going to be popular. But, feel free to blame Lutz while ignoring reality. Where are the diesels from Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai? why are they not flooding the market with diesels? Use common sense before launching into the same old “Lutz is the devil” responses people.

If any of you would read all of his comments instead of basing your posts on that little excerpt you will see he never said GM would be IGNORING DIESELS! All he said was he doesnt see diesels having substantial marketshare in the US in the near future. THAT IS ALL HE SAID and there is no reason to doubt this. Do you people really think we are going to go from 0% to 20% diesel in 5 years? 10 years? Currently CA is suing the feds to enact tougher air quality standards that will make it even tougher for diesels to be 50 state legal in the US. Although Honda has supposedly found a way to meet standards without urea treatment you can rest assured their solution will cost money. When you use the urea you have to get the tank changed out every few years to keep the system running properly and the BMW and MB models have this issue.

You can make all the silly comments you want and insult me, Lutz, the Pope or anyone else but the facts I reported cant be disputed as evidenced by your ridiculous retort that failed to address anything I wrote. I mean, how stupid can one be to say GM is “ignoring” diesels when they already sell diesel trucks and have a brand new 4.5L V8 coming next year? Did you read anything I wrote? Why do you think there is no flood of diesels coming for cars in the US? I will tell you why: they know its not practical for lower end cars due to cost of technology and cost of diesel fuel. In case you didnt notice, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai, Ford, etc. have said little about bringing diesels for cars to the US in large numbers.

BTW, you should note the US gov included a huge ethanol production provision in the CAFE bill so apparently they think its something worth expanding. Get mad at them, not me.

1. We dont know how much of a premium HOnda will charge for its diesel but all existing diesels in US models have substantial premiums
2. Lutz said E85 was the FASTEST way to reduce oil consumption and it requires the least change in consumer behavior. He is right and he never said that GM is ONLY betting on E85.
3. he is also right that the premiums for diesels dont make a lot of sense when diesel fuel is just as expensive as gas here. It will take years to recoup your investments.
4. Hybrids are far more popular than they used to be but they are still 1 or 2% of total sales. they are only 10% of Toyota’s US sales so lets not act like “everyone” is rushing to buy hybrids. There is no evidence that most buyers are willing to shell out $4k more to get a hybrid even if that model gets substantially better mileage than its gas only counterpart.
5. Not only is diesel cheaper in Europe, they give out TAX CREDITS to help offset the higher purchase price. Our new CAFE rules have no such provisions and thus diesels wont be as attractive.
6. US emissions rules makes it expensive to get 50 state compliant diesels in this country which makes diesels even LESS attractive.
7. GM has a new diesel V8 in the works that will be in trucks next year.

The EPA should STOP trying to make tailpipes cleaner than pre-historic air (which by the way was full of volanic debris).

GM should try the market, they go ahead and dump the H3 and Escalade on the market and wait for people to buy them…why not a diesel car ????