Diesel still has a niche existence in the USA with a market share of around three percent. The VW debacle is not exactly beneficial. However, the low price at the petrol pump could soon turn the tide.
In the automotive industry, an advertising spot on American television was rarely withdrawn as quickly as that of Volkswagen in October. Content: Three excited old ladies disagree about the cleanliness of the diesel engine. Finally, one of them holds a white handkerchief to the exhaust end. You can see - nothing. Message: The diesel engine is super clean.
From a chemical point of view, Volkswagen shouldn't have stopped the spot at all. The short film only showed that the particulate filter for soot worked perfectly. Nitrogen oxides, and that's what the manipulated exhaust gas software from Wolfsburg was about, don't leave black spots on a white handkerchief. VW knows, however, that ordinary American drivers no longer differentiate here. For him, the diesel engine is more of a stink than ever. The image of the diesel in the USA, after the disaster in the 80s (bursting GM engines, clogged soot filters, burning cars) is again at a low due to Volkswagen's cheating campaign.
It all started so confidently. 2006 Mercedes began to re-establish the diesel engine in America after more than 20 years of abstinence. BMW and the Volkswagen Group followed. The low-sulfur diesel fuel, available for the first time in the USA, was a kind of catalyst. Mercedes cleverly avoided the term "diesel", instead stuck the word "BlueTec" on the rear of the car. Nevertheless, this did not help the breakthrough. The market share in the United States has since reached a meager three percent and remains on this brand to this day. “Only Gear Heads drive diesel here. This is similar to the station wagon, there sit freaks behind the wheel, "says a GM manager.
The German manufacturers are leaders when it comes to the diesel engine. Their share in the United States is a proud 95 percent. VW is by far the strongest diesel brand. For the Jetta Sportwagon (combi version) alone, some 80 percent of customers opted for a diesel. Audi also sold 40 percent of its A3 Sportback as a TDI. The Q7 had a similar share. However, the proportion of new registrations is currently zero. And not just at Ingolstadt, but also at Volkswagen and Porsche. Group CEO Matthias Müller ordered a stop of sales for all diesel models in November because the three-liter V6 was suddenly suspected of being equipped with the cheat software. At Porsche alone, 13.000 Cayenne are affected. The stop action is valid until further notice. The Wolfsburg-based company also reacted quickly to the Los Angeles Motor Show. At no stand of the three brands was a vehicle with a diesel engine to be seen. As if this drive never existed. Instead, visitors were drawn to TSI petrol engines, electric golf and plug-in hybrid technology.
How do the other manufacturers react to the Volkswagen Volkswagen diesel affair? Are they also experiencing sales declines? "No," says BMW Development Manager Klaus Fröhlich, we have relied on SCR technology from the start. " The Bavarian carmaker has seven diesel models from the 3, 5, X3 and X5 series in its range. For the X models, the proportion is unchanged at one third, for sedans at around ten percent. All drive with urea injection (AdBlue). BMW continues to advertise confidently with “longer journeys await”. “Our customers appreciate the strong torque, the long range and the low consumption,” says Fröhlich.
At Mercedes, too, everything is going according to plan. In North America, the Swabians offer three models with a diesel engine, the GL 350 BlueTec (soon to be called GLS 350d), GLE 300d and the sedan of the E-Class as the E 250 BlueTec. In all three series, as with BMW, AdBlue is also used to undercut the required nitrogen oxide levels. Mercedes GLE and E 250 are still on the road with the old 2,2-liter four-cylinder OM 651. Here a short-term replacement is expected. Because the new E-Class W 213 is the first Mercedes model to receive the newly developed OM 654, a two-liter high-tech diesel, quieter in running, more economical in consumption and cleaner in exhaust gases.
The good "diesel take rates" of the Americans, especially for the SUV models, also prompted Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to make their diesel debut in the USA at the end of 2014. CEO Ralph Speth showed at the Los Angeles Auto Show the models Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport as Td6. The two luxury diesel SUVs have been on the market since October 2015, with success. "We currently have a diesel share of up to 20 percent," says Steven Schorr of JLR North America.
The involvement of Europeans also awakened American manufacturers. Chevrolet is the only one of the "Big Three" with the mid-size sedan Cruze to offer a diesel in the passenger car segment. Also in the mid-size pick-ups Chevrolet vorsch before and uses a 2,8-liter diesel in the Colorado. Market launch: 2016. A share of over ten percent is expected.
Ford is currently saying no to diesel, preferring EcoBoost turbo petrol engines in its car models that consume up to 29 percent less than the previous naturally aspirated engines. Dearborners only pack a diesel (6,7-liter-V8) in their heavy-duty pick-up series from F 250 upwards.
Also with an eight-cylinder diesel Nissan waiting for, but a class lower in his pickup Titan. That these units are not installed in the large SUV, is due to their classification. SUVs do not drive in the same class as the light trucks and are therefore subject to stricter emission laws. Chrysler is currently the only manufacturer to offer a diesel SUV in this segment with the Grand Cherokee. The model even meets the strict emission standards in California. The same engine, a three-liter V6, is also under the hood of the RAM 1500 pick-up.
Mazda announced two years ago that it would enter the diesel market with its so-called SkyActive diesel. First with the Mazda6 mid-size sedan. With 14: 1, the two-liter diesel engine has the world's lowest compression ratio of all large-scale diesel engines and was supposed to overcome the US emissions barrier without the expensive NOx aftertreatment. But even before the VW exhaust scandal, Mazda pulled back. Apparently, the NOx limits could not be easily adhered to, at least not without serious performance losses. The plans are not off the table, it is said from the headquarters in Hiroshima. Which technology will later be used for NOx reduction is open.
On the jump could help the diesel engine currently its cheaper price. A year ago, diesel at the petrol pump in the United States cost almost 50 percent more than gasoline. Now it's ten percent less.