Throughout the world, diesel vehicles have often played an important role in transportation. From South America to Europe, Africa and Asia, the form of fuel helps transport a large majority of the world’s population. However, one area that is not true in is North America, and specifically the United States. Although the large-rig transportation industry, moving goods and products from one border to the other in North America, does use diesel fuel, the consumer grade automotive industry does not. In fact, Chevrolet has not released a diesel vehicle in the continent since the 1986 Chevette. Other car manufacturers, such as Volkswagen, have had some success in releasing diesel vehicles in the continent, but nothing to the point where other American based car companies would do the same.
Europe
In Europe, about 50 percent of all vehicles sold use diesel fuel, while only three percent of vehicles in the United States have the same feature. Many citizens inside North America still have the notion of diesel as a louder, smellier fuel option. However, General Motors is looking to change the way individuals think, with its upcoming release of the Chevy Cruze. In fact, the company points to the diesel Cruze as actually being quieter than the gasoline version. Diesel, while costing more to fill up a tank, the fuel economy per full tank is far superior than what is found in a traditional fuel.
General Motors
While General Motors does want individuals in the country to purchase the diesel option, a larger reason behind the company’s push towards diesel is to reach the United States government’s mandated average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. While aimed at improving its fleet’s fuel economy, the company is also going to release the vehicle in Europe and other regions in the world in order to directly compete with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI. The vehicle is going to come with a 2-liter, 4-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. The vehicle also is currently set to become the most fuel efficient, non-hybrid passenger vehicle in North America, which should help boost sales for individuals looking to save money when filling up at the pump.
In 2012, General Motors sold 120,000 Cruze diesel models outside of the United States, with most of these models sold in Europe. With the vamped up production, the company looks to sell more vehicles throughout the world and make a dent in the North American auto market. In order to build a market for the diesel vehicle, General Motors is first going to target 13 metro markets with advertisements, explaining the improvements diesel has over traditional fuel. The company is also making more features standard on the Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel, as the starting price tag in North America is pegged at $25,695 and will come with standard leather-trim seating, the Chevy MyLink information display and heated seats.
The World
Most of the world already knows the improved features of diesel vehicles. These vehicles allow a driver to travel further on a single tank of fuel, so while it does cost more initially to fill up the tank, it does ultimately drive more for less money. Europe, South America and Asia have all taken to the clean diesel vehicles, but this has not proven the case in the United States and the rest of North America. In fact, if more drivers switched to diesel it would help drive down the price of the fuel. Ultimately, General Motors is hoping its first diesel consumer vehicle since 1986 will make a large enough splash on the continent to prove it necessary to release other diesel based models.