New York 2008: BMW North America CEO takes a swipe at Mercedes' clean diesel
During the BMW press conference at the New York Auto Show last week, BMW North America president and CEO Tom Purves made a nice swipe at the earlier announcement from Mercedes about those clean diesel SUVs. While Purves talked about the BMW's ActiveHybrid and clean diesel systems in general, he also said the following (listen for it starting at about a minute into the video after the jump):
I heard earlier this morning our friends from Stuttgart talking about the cleanest diesel. We're delighted the industry as a whole is approaching this whole field together. You can also get the cleanest diesel from BMW, but you get performance, too.
There were many chuckles.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 8:54AM (3/25/2008)
From the customer perspective, it's a shame US diesel fuel is now so expensive. T2B5 diesel technology sharply reduces CO2 emissions while still meeting even California emissions, but the advantage in fuel cost per mile is getting smaller - unlike the up-front premium over a gasoline engine.
For large sedans, minivans, SUVs and pick-ups, T2B5 diesel still deserves consideration, even in the US. After all, it's been a cold winter and (too) many homeowners on the East Coast still rely on heating oil, which is really just a less refined grade of diesel.
Note that a gallon of diesel contains 12-15% more energy than a gallon of gasoline. Historically, US diesel fuel has been cheaper than gasoline, if not per gallon then at least per unit of energy contained. Only time will tell if the introduction of ULSD has permanently altered the price relationship.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_gnd_dcus_nus_w.htm
(instead of looking a weekly prices, you should select Period: annual and view history)
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cnolan 11:36AM (8/28/2009)
It's too bad that BMW of North America makes themselves unreachable, is it any wonder why the car industry is struggling? We are able to potentially generate thousands of new car sales nationwide for you, but because you have built an impervious communication barrier between businesses and yourselves we are forced to locate other auto companies who actually are interested in identifying new business. For you executives at BMW, why a preliminary and exploratory conversation of 5 minutes can't be accomplished before fulfilling your apparent requirement to submit a formal proposal (of which you may or may not get back to me on, let alone understand) to someone we can't even identify or know is the correct person in the first place is poor business practice in my opinion. I've been a BMW owner for over 20 years, I guess you are wanting me to start buying another brand because I'm developing a negative opinion about BMW in general!
UNBELIEVABLE.
Warren W. 9:42AM (3/25/2008)
If I remember correctly, heating oil is diesel fuel. The only difference being that it is not taxed for road use and as such contains a red dye that stains the insides of the fuel tank so that owners that use the fuel in their cars can be caught and fined.
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