As a number of European vehicle manufacturers push ahead with plans to market more diesel cars in the US market, GM’s global head of product development Bob Lutz told just-auto that there are significant problems for diesel that will hold back its market penetration there.
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“Here’s the problem for diesels and, as Europeans [automakers] are about to find out, Euro 5 is much more expensive than Euro 4 and Euro 6 is going to be more expensive still,” Lutz said.
Lutz maintains that federal emissions regulations in the US will be expensive for diesel engines to meet.
“In the US we have Bin 5 Tier 2 and that is more severe than Euro 5 and is about the same as Euro 6. So, the emissions hardware required in the US for diesels starting in 2010 is extremely expensive. You will be paying a very substantial price premium even over today’s diesels,” he said.
“You will have the privilege of paying another $3,000 to get a 20% fuel saving to buy a fuel that is 20% more expensive per gallon than normal pump petrol. You have to start asking yourself, where’s the benefit?”
Lutz also pointed out that differential taxation rates helped diesel to take-off in Europe, something that isn’t present in the US.
Dave Leggett
