Opel Reopens Its Diesel-Hybrid File

Opel already has big plans for its restructuring, despite the minor issue of being short a few billion dollars. According to an interview with Opel boss Nick Reilly in the print edition of Auto Motor und Sport, only a billion Euros of the €3.3b Opel turnaround plan is going to be spent on restructuring. The rest will be spent on new products like a city car, a “mini offroader,” and new high-tech drivetrains. According to Autocar, one of those high-tech drivetrain options is a a pairing that several firms including VW and Peugeot-Citroen already looked into but have yet to bring to market out of concern for the high cost: the diesel-electric hybrid. GM Europe’s Advanced Powertrain Chief Engineer Maurizio Cisternino explains “if you want the best fuel consumption, you have to go with the diesel-electric hybrid.” But there’s a tiny problem: Cisternino wants to get diesel-hybrid prices down to a €1,000 premium over gas-electric hybrids, a goal Cisternino admits “does not work at the moment.” Now if only GM had some government investment in the technology…

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  • Zipper69 Alfa Romeo Europa
  • MGS1995 I wish my hybrid was a plug in hybrid but I’m not interested in an electric only vehicle. I’m in a rural area which probably will be late in getting the needed infrastructure.
  • FreedMike Um, OK. EVs are just cars, folks. I have no idea why they take up so much rent-free space in some folks' heads.
  • Analoggrotto *What's the most famous track you have driven on while Hyundai foots the bill?
  • 2ACL I'm pretty sure you've done at least one tC for UCOTD, Tim. I want to say that you've also done a first-gen xB. . .It's my idea of an urban trucklet, though the 2.4 is a potential oil burner. Would be interested in learning why it was totaled and why someone decided to save it.