My Kingdom for an Oil Burner! US VW TDI Delayed Again.
Release of Volkswagen's highly anticipated, 50-state, four-cylinder clean diesel engine is being pushed back. Again. Brandweek reports that the German automaker's now saying their new oil burner will arrive stateside next summer. You know what's awesome about that? Nothing. Keep in mind that VW doesn't offer a single naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine to its American customers, eroding VW's once-famous econo-cred. VW's turbocharged 2.0T engine, spectacular as it may be, delivers modest mileage in exchange for premium fuel. Many automotive customers associate "diesel" with "VW" (Volkswagen sold more than 815k diesel-powered vehicles in the U.S. since 1977) and "reliable" (another facet to VW's brand image that disappeared down the reality rathole). In short, VW needs a 50-state clear diesel to recover their premier position in the minds of the holy trinity of America's European (Mexican?) car buyers: efficiency nerds, torque snobs and Euro-lusters. Even with diesel costing 15 percent more than regular petrol, we reckon the TDI would have been a hit. Now, we wait.
Immensely bored law student. I've also got 3 dogs.
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"And did Honda really announce more than “We’ll have a diesel in the US, eventually”?---did vw not just do the same thing? Honda said theyre bringing a hybrid and they did, so i would assume this will make it here also,and if its a hit i wouldn't doubt gas goes down in price cause the oil companies don't want to encourage 70mpg cars to much,they'll lose profits.
Looks like Volkswagen has delivered, although diesel is about 20% more than RUG at present. Also, the new clean diesel emissions technology is awfully complicated from the tailpipe backwards, and I just have to wonder if Volkswagen erred by reducing their bumper-to-bumper warranty to 3 years/36k miles. Coincidence? Hmmm. Also, many VW dealers are marking up the price of the Jetta TDI and Sportwagen TDI beyond MSRP. Woe be unto those who buy at inflated prices now, only to find the prices of these diesel offering drop dramatically in 6 months or so, either because gasoline prices come down, Honda/Acura bring a competitive diesel to the U.S. as threatened, VW's TDI system proves to be problematic from a mechanical standpoint, or any combination of aforementioned items. Farfanuugenheimer.