GM News: General Motors Says More Diesels Are Coming To The U.S.

[William Maley]

General Motors took a surprising step a few years ago when they introduced a Cruze with a diesel engine for the U.S. The model gets 46 MPG on the highway and is meeting the sales expectations the company has set. Well according to Steve Kiefer, GM’s vice president of global powertrain, there could be more diesel options coming to the U.S.

“The Chevrolet Cruze diesel will be the first of many diesel-powered passenger cars General Motors will offer in the United States,” said Kiefer to an audience at the 2014 Management Briefing Seminars. “We will continue to introduce more diesels as appropriate and as the market accepts them.”

Kiefer said that diesels in cars and light trucks could grow up to ten percent by 2020. He also dropped a possible hint of what GM has in mind for their next diesel application. Automotive News reports that Kiefer said that torque, not horsepower will be the more important measure of performance in the coming years. Torque is key thing for pickup trucks as its a key part in performance figures for acceleration and hauling/towing heavy loads. We know that a four-cylinder turbodiesel is coming for the upcoming Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, and AN speculates it could be the light-duty trucks next.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.

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[G. David Felt]

This is good, they should move faster towards these global clean diesel auto's.

 

GM would strike GOLD if they built a true Mini Pickup truck for the US market with the 2.9 L Duramax Diesel. That would rock here.

[smk4565]

They should get ahead of the wave, rather than be at the back end of it.  VW and Mercedes are having diesel success, Chevy could gain an advantage if they do it now, rather than wait til after Fiat puts diesels in Chryslers or for Ford to Ecoboost their whole lineup.  A friend of mine has a diesel 5-series which is a fairly big and heavy car, and he is averaging 31-32 mpg in mixed driving.  His old 535 with the gas engine he got about 19 mpg, so he loves the diesel, it is just as fast, it is quiet and way better mileage.

[riviera74]

I hope that GM has learned to avoid the mistakes of the last set of diesel cars from the late '70s.  A lot of people became Toyota or VW buyers for that reason alone.  Of course, there should be diesel options in as many types of vehicles as possible, if the demand is there.

[William Maley]

I hope that GM has learned to avoid the mistakes of the last set of diesel cars from the late '70s.  A lot of people became Toyota or VW buyers for that reason alone.  Of course, there should be diesel options in as many types of vehicles as possible, if the demand is there.

 

I think GM has. I wasn't a big fan of the Cruze Diesel for NVH levels, but everywhere else I was amazed how far they had come.

[Drew Dowdell]

Diesel Encore and/or Envision please.

[Z-06]

Diesel Corvette! Tri-turbo Baby Duramax making 500 hp. Why not!! Annhilate and destroy German snob-uber-diesels.

[G. David Felt]

Diesel Corvette! Tri-turbo Baby Duramax making 500 hp. Why not!! Annhilate and destroy German snob-uber-diesels.

Love this concept!

[regfootball]

Buick would be a good diesels brand.  I think CTS and ATS could do diesel nice as well.

 

A larger 4 cyl Impala diesel would be a road king.  Imagine 45-50 mpg and a huge tank.  Don't get a large beverage!

[A Horse With No Name]

Diesel Corvette! Tri-turbo Baby Duramax making 500 hp. Why not!! Annhilate and destroy German snob-uber-diesels.

This is one of the few lustful fantasies I would be willing to share with you. The others are off limits.

[A Horse With No Name]

Buick would be a good diesels brand.  I think CTS and ATS could do diesel nice as well.

 

A larger 4 cyl Impala diesel would be a road king.  Imagine 45-50 mpg and a huge tank.  Don't get a large beverage!

This would be fantastic competition to the Passat. I know several people with diesel Passats, and they love getting 50 M.P.G in a car that is not a penalty box like a Prius.

[A Horse With No Name]

Diesel Encore and/or Envision please.

This would eliminate the one real advantage a Diesel Golf wagon would have over the Encore as my next car. 15-20 real world m.p.g more advantage of the fee dub washed away overnight with a proper GM diesel engine.

I hope that GM has learned to avoid the mistakes of the last set of diesel cars from the late '70s.  A lot of people became Toyota or VW buyers for that reason alone.  Of course, there should be diesel options in as many types of vehicles as possible, if the demand is there.

 

I think GM has. I wasn't a big fan of the Cruze Diesel for NVH levels, but everywhere else I was amazed how far they had come.

In some ways I think that scaling back has helped GM in its core market of vehicles. I too am astonished at how far GM as a whole has come. The Cruise diesel is just one small but important part of that.

[Z-06]

Buick would be a good diesels brand.  I think CTS and ATS could do diesel nice as well.

 

A larger 4 cyl Impala diesel would be a road king.  Imagine 45-50 mpg and a huge tank.  Don't get a large beverage!

 

Good one. If GM wants to proliferate diesel engines' development costs and use economy of scales, to me all sedans and trucks need to have a diesel. That would not only give GM one up against its domestic and Japanese competition but also attack straight into German territory. If someone in GM top brass thinks like a warrior, he wouldn't let the German flag fly over Alamo! Unfortunately decisions there are controlled by bean counters and lawyers trying to justify their anal-ysis for perception of company's survival and best path forward. Warriors need to be in that Renaissance Center.

 

GM needs 3 diesel engines - a 4, V6 and a V8. Baby Duramax is an excellent platform to attain that. 2.2L 4 cylinder, 3.3L V-6 and of course 4.5L V-8. Major development costs have already been sunk and possibly written off in bankruptcy proceeding. A warrior will see no need for sitting on the pot and smelling the aroma by not even flushing.

[smk4565]

Diesel cars should be fairly quiet too because the operate in a low rpm range for the most part.   A lot of the BMW diesels are more quiet than the gas counterpart, maybe by only 1 dBA but still if you do a diesel right, it should be just as refined or quiet as a gas engine.  And the fuel economy advantage is undeniable.

 

Cadillac has low volume, but since the Germans have them, and the Germans set the tone in the luxury market, Cadillac should have them too.  I think a diesel for the Impala is a no brainer, especially since it still has some fleet/commercial use.  I'd also say Equinox and Terrain since the 4-cylinder models have no power anyway, the diesel would give it more torque and boost mpg.  Really any SUV would benefit from a diesel option.   The Malibu is a tough call, probably no one would buy a diesel Malibu, but the Malibu needs something to make it stand out, it gets clobbered by its competitors.

[2QuickZ's]

I hope GM really goes through with this and I would love to see Chrysler crank out more diesels since they seem to be already headed that direction.  Ford should get in the action, too.  They just all need to be patient and understand it is going to take time to win people over in this country.  They need to find a way to reduce the cost premium to buy a diesel so they can trickle it down into the lower trim levels.

 

I couldn't be happier with the performance of my Cruze diesel.  Do you hear some clatter outside the car or when the windows are down?  Yes.  Do you hear it in the cabin when the windows are up?  Not really.  In fact, I think you could argue it is quieter inside than the gas version.  From the one decent length steady trip I have taken in the car, I think it could easily pull 50+ MPG on a longer trip.  Now imagine what kind of FE could it could get with an 8 or 9 speed trans?  They could actually use 9th gear since the diesel is not going to care it is only at 1400 RPM!  Torque FTW!

[ocnblu]

I do believe the diesel engine solution is much more appealing than electrification, by a moon shot.  My automotive ADD has been mitigated by this Beetle.  I just love that diesel engine, it is quite a gem.  I still have to deal with some ppl's perception that the Beetle is a girl's car though.  If there were an affordable compact pickup with a diesel, that would be a grail for me I suppose.  I even enjoy the clatter that can be heard outside the car... but not inside.

Edited August 7, 2014 by ocnblu

[G. David Felt]

I do believe the diesel engine solution is much more appealing than electrification, by a moon shot.  My automotive ADD has been mitigated by this Beetle.  I just love that diesel engine, it is quite a gem.  I still have to deal with some ppl's perception that the Beetle is a girl's car though.  If there were an affordable compact pickup with a diesel, that would be a grail for me I suppose.  I even enjoy the clatter that can be heard outside the car... but not inside.

This is why I still see so many mid 70's Chevy Luv Trucks on the road with a diesel engine. Isuzu built a great mini truck then and GM need to bring their Mini sold in other world markets here with the 2.9L Duramax Diesel.

[A Horse With No Name]

I saw a diesel luv on the road the other day...along within a few hours a BMW Z8, a playboy pink 1968 mustang, a 1959 Mercedes's 190, and a few other automotive unicorns.

[balthazar]

I have not seen a chevy LUV (that I can recall) in like 15 years.

[G. David Felt]

Maybe the salt back east eats them up too fast, but here in Seattle where they do not use salt on the roads, you still see many of the luv trucks driving around.

[A Horse With No Name]

I too had not seen them for 15 or twenty years, and then I have seen two in the last three weeks..

[A Horse With No Name]

We see how the Diesel thing has worked out a few years alter....I would still like a Colorado diesel.