Diesel Powered Cars: Coming At You!

The number of diesel powered cars on Northminimum. In addition, the added torque is a favorite with
American highways has been dropping steadily eversome, especially those who need to pull a boat or a
since their peak in the mid 1980s. For many motorists,camper with the Jeep.
diesel engines conjure up images of pollution, poorVolkswagen will be bringing additional diesel powered
power, and unreliability. However, one generation latercars to the North American market over the next few
and all that is about to change. New diesel poweredyears. Diesel powered Golfs, Jettas, and possibly
vehicles will soon be arriving, in fact one is already hereseveral larger model VWs will soon be traversing the
and receiving critical acclaim from auto enthusiasts.highways and byways of Canada and the U.S.
Who can forget those diesel powered ChevroletBMW and Mercedes are both likely to be importing
Caprices and Oldsmobile 98s that suddenly becamediesel cars over the next few years. Both automakers
very popular 25 years ago? If you are like many carare studying the market to see if compact models
owners, you want to forget those cars. What GM didcould sell in North America. Each proposed model line
back then was to take existing gasoline engines andis currently sold in Europe and diesel engines are a
convert them to diesel engines. These convertedpopular option with these cars.
engines were loud, smoky, and very unreliable. TheyGM is also considering tapping its relationship with Isuzu
were unreliable to the point where GM had to payto import engines to be placed in several compact
tens of millions of dollars to replace failed engines withmodels. Long a producer of diesel powered vehicles,
gasoline engines.Isuzu has pretty much exited the North American
The memory of GM's diesel fiasco was never lost onmarket, but could return in the form of Isuzu powered
drivers who have spurned diesels to the point wherecars sold by GM.
many automakers are no longer producing dieselChrysler will likely take its favorable experience with its
engines. Mercedes, a strong seller of diesel poweredJeep division and begin to offer diesel engines on other
cars in Europe, no longer sells a diesel powered car intrucks and SUVs. At the same time the all new Dodge
North America. VW is the lone importer of dieselCaliber, a replacement for the Neon, may eventually
engines while the U.S. manufacturers only place highoffer a diesel engine too.
performance diesel engines in their larger vehicles suchFord seems to be content with expanding its hybrid
as pick up trucks.offerings and no other Japanese or Korean
Another area that has stopped diesel engines cold ismanufacturers appear ready to jump into the diesel
air pollution. Very stringent emission regulations have allmovement...yet. Regardless, within five years the
but wiped out the possibility that many of the smallernumber of diesel cars on American and Canadian
diesel engines could be sold in the U.S. However, aroads will likely triple. This can be a good thing for
change is in the wind as new technology is now inpeople wanting better fuel mileage, more torque, and a
place that will make diesel powered cars cleaner. Inhighly reliable engine.
addition, with the high cost of gasoline now prevailing, aFor older diesel powered cars, they will continue to
diesel powered car has much more of an appeal to itserve their purpose as owners discover how to
especially since fuel savings of 20-30% are possible.extend their lives through useful aftermarket parts
DaimlerChrysler recently introduced a Jeep Liberty withsuch as Bully Dog and competing products. With their
an optionally equipped diesel engine and this compactrugged durability and well known reliability, a diesel
SUV is selling well with the optional engine. Its new 2.8Lpowered car can easily reach a half of million miles or
diesel delivers fuel improvements as high as 32% overmore before quitting.
a comparable gas 4x4 model and pollution is kept to a