Diesels Under Pressure

Forbes
Jerry Flint
June 20, 2006

Under the hood, Europe and America take different roads. Half of Europe’s 15 million new car sales a year are for models with diesel engines. In the United States, manufacturers sell fewer than 50,000 diesel cars a year.

Once again, diesels have a chance -- but only a chance -- at gaining ground in America. Rising fuel prices work in their favor, as does the advent of cleaner diesel fuel in the United States, which will help open the door for the importation of Europe’s high-technology diesel engines.

The problem is that while cleaner diesel fuel is coming to market here, federal emission standards are climbing, too. The Europeans say their new technology diesels will be able to meet our tougher rules, but not for a few years. (See Forbes' slideshow Diesels Americans Can Buy)