The USA should actually be a diesel country. Long distances, thin petrol station networks, even speeds - the states would be predestined for the auto-ignition. That was also what General Motors thought at the beginning of the 70s.
As a result of the oil crisis, the company had problems selling its large and thirsty limousines. Because the customers didn't want to let go of large-volume engines despite the gasoline crisis, the fuel had to be changed. Daughter Oldsmobile was therefore commissioned to develop a V8 diesel engine. The technology was completely new territory for the developers, and there was great time pressure. Nevertheless, the finished series engine was presented in 1977, ready for use in numerous group brands from Cadillac to Buick.
The 5,7 liter eight-cylinder was also quite powerful and economical. However, technically not fully developed: To fasten the cylinder head, for example, too few screws were provided, so that many engines gave up after a few thousand kilometers with a lot of smoke. At first, this was not noticeable; within a very short time, sales of diesel cars climbed to more than half a million cars in 1981, which corresponded to a market share of almost five percent at the time. But then gasoline prices fell again and petrol stations could not cope with the quality problem with frequently contaminated diesel fuel.
In the meantime, Oldsmobile has also been overrun by lawsuits due to engine damage. Diesel became almost unsaleable in a very short time, even if the V6 models that had been launched in the meantime had put an end to their teething troubles. In 1985 the auto-ignition production was completely stopped. Many V8 diesels were converted to petrol-powered racing engines in the following years, where they did a good job with their massive and stable engine blocks. The few remaining copies are coveted collectibles today.
The memory of the disaster has long closed the US market to diesel. In any case, the domestic industry from then on generally avoided auto-ignition and concentrated on electric and hybrid cars. The German brands saw this as an opportunity - and began to hunt for market share with their “Clean Diesel” models at the beginning of the millennium. And this is not entirely unsuccessful despite largely low gasoline prices. According to the industry association VDA, the diesel recently reached just under three percent of the market share in the USA. 94 percent of the cars come from German brands.
Compared to Europe, the USA is still a diesel developing country. In Germany the diesel share is 48 percent, in Western Europe a total of 53 percent. German manufacturers are likely to put up with the upcoming diesel crisis on the US market. If sales also collapse in Europe, the situation is different. Because here the diesel is not only a sales agent, but also has to make a special contribution to reducing CO2. German petrol engines alone will not meet the emission targets.