Daimler figures diesels could make up 20 percent of its U.S. sales
Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche is bullish on the adoption of diesel in the United States. At the ECO:nomics conference, Zetsche told the Wall Street Journal that Daimler is very happy with its diesel accomplishments over the last two years (see video below the fold). According to Zetsche, in the states where they are currently available, Daimler's diesel SUVs are showing twenty percent take rates and diesel cars are showing twelve percent take rates. Zetsche is confident Daimler will see the same share when diesel is offered in all 50 states. While very popular in Europe (where around half the cars are oil burners), diesel has yet to take hold in America, where only 3.5 percent of new car sales are diesels.In the video, Zetsche was also asked about the public's unwillingness to pay for higher fuel economy. Zetsche said he thinks the public is only willing to pay for fuel saving technology that can be paid back in a short time, three to four years at the most. On the economy, Zetsche said the slowdown has not had much impact on Daimler's business so far. This means that Daimler customers are not jumping on the subway, at least not the ones that sell real estate, he joked.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bill 1:25PM (3/20/2008)
"Dr. Z" should do the ads.
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Earl 5:55PM (3/20/2008)
At $4.00 a gallon for diesel, Dr. Z better get back to the lab. Diesel is a joke, the efficiency gaines are wiped out by the price difference.
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Lad 2:16PM (3/20/2008)
We don't really need diesel ICE cars; they are more complicated, more expensive and the price of the fuel sells for a premium above high test...thus wiping out any advantages diesel might have. GM and Toyota are going the right way with PHEVs and BEVs; in effect leap frogging the competition. This decision by Mercedes at a time when the dollar is favored over the euro by the exchange rate, is a forced decision necessary for them to recover their diesel R&D investments. VW/Audi are also in the same sinking diesel boat. It's going to take a lot of PR to sell diesels in the U.S.
This is another bad decision by a conservative, old German company topped only by their decision in 1986 when they stopped building the 190E-16V five speeds in favor of automatics in their AMG performance street cars. Thus handing over their performance market to BMW. Their only chance to get back in the performance game is the two clutch transmission. But, it's too late. The Tesla is proving the next group of performance street and track cars will be BEVs or hybrids, not pure diesels. I think Mercedes is a company in trouble fueled by bad conservative decisions; with Chrysler and the Maybach as two other shining examples of bad decisions.
If you don't believe in hybrid track cars, watch Le Mans this year and see if the Toyota hybrid GT with a 480 hp V8 and super cap driven electric motors will do well.
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Electron 2:28PM (3/20/2008)
I don't know.. In Central Florida diesel is $3.99/gal while gas is $3.27. I know you get more energy from one gal of diesel then one gal of gas but man that price difference sucks.
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EVan 3:38PM (3/20/2008)
I figuted you would proofread at least the headline of one of your articles... but you'll probably figute it out eventually.
I really don't see how diesel gets a free ticket to be on the "green" bandwagon.
1. There's a pretty expensive technology penalty to consumers thanks to the NOx emissions and particulates that have to be filtered out. The diesel Grand Cherokee costs an extra 3000 dollars!
2. The price of diesel in the states is more expensive than gasoline and has been for a while
3. The difference in fuel economy isn't staggering - 30%. Not enough to cover the barrier to entry.
4. Most important... Diesel is a fossil fuel, HOW is this GREEN?
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rgseidl 6:33PM (3/20/2008)
Even if diesel costs 20% more than gasoline per gallon as it does right now, the engine consumes at least 30% less so you're still at least 10% ahead on fuel cost per mile. Against that, you need to count the higher up-front cost and depreciation loss of a diesel engine and T2B5 emissions control equipment.
Dinodiesel is not inherently greener than dinogasoline. Indeed it contains 12-15% more carbon per gallon. However, using 30% fewer gallons means you're still spewing a lot less fossil carbon into the air for each mile that you drive.
Note that US diesel prices are always higher in a cold winter because many homeowners on the East Coast still rely on heating oil, a competing application. Moreover, some 6% of ULSD is currently exported to Europe, where refineries cannot meet demand because they can't sell enough of the by-product gasoline.
Things will change in a couple of months, as US refineries start stockpiling gasoline imported from Europe to meet volume demand during the summer driving season. This proves that US car buyers should look at long-term trends in fuel prices rather than base their opinion on a single spot price.
Historical fuel price data shows that the premium for diesel in the US is normally less than the 12-15% you'd expect based on energy content. The switch to ULSD has added some cost and, increased freight volume plus growing diesel passenger car share will also drive up the differential a little.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/info_glance/petroleum.html
Even so, for a large vehicle such as an full-sized sedan, minivan, SUV or pick-up truck, a T2B5-compliant diesel engine makes a lot of economic sense if your annual mileage is above 12000 and/or most of that is highway miles at speeds in excess of 30mph.
For a small car - which is always the greener choice if it meets your needs - you may be better off with a hybrid electric setup, especially if your daily commute often involves being stuck in traffic.
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Bill 9:04PM (3/20/2008)
One can buy diesel when it is cheaper (not winter) and store it for some time - that's not the case with petrol.
That's a consideration for those of us who saw local gasoline supplies disrupted post-Katrina.
While I hope to see PHEVs in 5 years, high-efficiency turbodiesel engines are *very* attractive in the nearer term.
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