Despite "dieselgate" VW won't give up on diesel in the US

According to Automotive News today: Volkswagen’s brand chief isn’t giving up on diesels in the US market despite the company’s emissions scandal that has undermined the eco-friendly credentials of the niche powertrain. Herbert Diess says that diesels will continue to have a role in Volkswagen’s US line-up because, with the latest emissions technologies, diesels can be clean. He also touted the long range and high torque of diesel engines. “I wouldn’t give up diesel, even in the US…We have no reason to give up on diesel in the United States…the customers that have had diesel cars from us are really diesel fans…” Diess told reporters on the sidelines of VW’s CES keynote in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.

The backlash to Volkswagen’s cheating ways won’t scare BMW away from selling diesel engines in the United States, its Director of Research and Development insisted yesterday.

Even with almost Volkswagen 600,000 cars being spotlighted by the US Environmental Protection Agency as releasing too many NOx emissions, Dr Klaus Fröhlich insisted there was no reason for BMW to immediately replace its diesel fleet.

“We have no reason to give up on diesel in the United States,” he insisted.

“It’s still one third of the X cars we sell there, they’re strong on diesel.

“The customers that have had diesel cars from us are really diesel fans.”

While one German newspaper has hinted that BMW itself has failed NOx emissions testing in the real world, tests by the California Air Review Board and the EPA have not reported any irregularities from BMW diesels, and BMW has always insisted its cars have met all regulatory requirements.

“The diesel systems for emissions in the US and in Europe are more and more the same so it’s not a problem of engineering for us to keep making diesels.

“The reality is that heavy cars in the US will stay with diesel power because they need to.

“There are very low fuel prices at the moment, so buyers aren’t jumping over to plug-in hybrids and we have our corporate consumption targets to achieve. Diesel is the only way to do that,” he explained.