Editorial: Bring on the Diesels

U.S. automobile and light truck manufacturers are going to have to improve their fleets’ average fuel economy over the next few years. Will diesels play a larger role?

That is unclear at this time.

We have already seen the direction the manufacturers will take with their core products. We will begin seeing lighter vehicles and more combustion-control advancements such as direct injection, variable geometry turbochargers, and cylinder deactivation in the V-6 and V-8s.

Each of these offers some measurable improvement over the previous generation combustion technology.

We also have seen the push for alternative fuel-powered cars. While ethanol seems to have quickly fallen out of favor, electricity is hot and is benefiting from big marketing pushes. Every manufacturer has or will have a hybrid, plug-in and/or all-electric vehicle on the road soon. President Obama wants to have 1 million of them on the roads by 2015.

Nevertheless, it will take a lot of convincing to show me that these are anything but niche products, even for fleet operations. Yet, at this time, they are certainly ahead of light-duty diesels.

Spend just 10 minutes on the corner outside our offices watching traffic pass by in affluent and trendy northern Virginia and one will see numerous hybrids — mostly Toyota Prius — and a growing number of Daimler’s Smart two-seater car. There is at least one Honda hybrid and one Smart car in our parking garage. (Both, coincidentally, are driven by MIS staffers.

Is there a link between computer technology gurus and “green”?) The entire taxicab fleet in Arlington County is comprised of Camry hybrids.

But is this area typical of the rest of the country?

The Detroit Three each have light-duty diesels on their respective drawing boards, and each have had to put those plans on hold. Chrysler and General Motors did so for obvious reasons. Each barely had 2 million pennies to rub together, and every coin has been directed toward developing products considered to have broader marketing and sales appeal than a diesel. Ford’s situation was not quite as dire, but it, too, focused on other priorities, including its new V-8 diesel.

Nevertheless, the diesel will have a bigger role in American vehicles going forward. The economy will recover and the business case for a light-duty diesel in fleet vehicles will improve.

Chrysler’s five-year business plan, unveiled in November, predicted that by 2014 diesel use will grow to 14% of the company’s worldwide vehicle makeup from the current 9%.

1  2

Next >>