i am into the idea of most of the people here. but marketing is not a problem. GM has a big marketing clout that they can easily change the perception of people regarding diesel engines. it was crazy for them to allow the europeans bring in diesel cars. it was irresponsible of them to allow the japanese to dominate the small, thrifty car segment, and to allow toyota to trump up the hybrid. I really think that it will be such an insolent act that they will allow the japanese to dominate also the diesel passenger car (light trucks also) market. other than VW, most of the diesel cars are marketed my MB, soon also audi and BMW. once toyota slips in the Sequoia with the 4.5 diesel V8 (and at a lower price than the hybrid tahoe), do you think toyota will let their PR guy not to market the fuel economy on a non-hybrid full size SUV? come on GM, wake up! if you want to remain as the world's biggest car manufacturer, grow some *** and blaze the trail. if the execs will just sit in their cushy offices and watch as the automotive landscape reshape into something that they can no longer dominate in the coming decade, then US will go the way of UK...where all of their car brands were sold to foreign companies and the brits just contented themselves as just mere assemblers, not car manufacturing champions that other companies would fear,  

Yeah, seems GM might be coming around. But other than the Volt, I see little evidence of them really being trailblazers with new trends. Still "followers."

But they're talking about the 2.9 turbodiesel in the Caddy CTS, and I personally think it would be a great powertrain option in the Pontiac G8. And for the smaller cars, GM has some great four-cylinder diesels in its European lineup. It's just a matter of getting them certified here.  

Americans, and people in general, don't like the idea of using diesel because it's an unknown, and human nature dictates we fear what we don't understand.

IMHO, VW currently has the market on passenger car diesels and everyone else will be playing catch-up over the next 5 to 10 years.  I've seen and heard of VW's making 45 to 50 MPG using either #2, B5, B20, or some combination of the three.  They burn clean and get great mileage, but it's still diesel.  It's treated like an alternate fuel, just like E-85 is.

Unfortunately, the problems with E-85 (lack of mileage and power, eating fuel systems not approved for E-85 use, not much difference in cost between it and regular) are mostly the same reasons diesel is looked down on.

The mindset people have needs to be changed and the big three car makers aren't doing anything to make that change happen.  They're all talking hydrogen cells and special batteries and hybrid gas/electric or some other crazy means to get the most from "today's technology".

Seriously, if I wanted a hybrid gas/electric I'd use a 2 or 3 cylinder air cooled Deutz diesel hooked up to the little gen-set under the hood and make 80 MPH.  It's still low cost, low tech, and will make a fantastic generator once the car gets totalled or falls apart.




Kris