U.S. diesel fortunes dim as word comes that Nissan may scrap Maxima oil burner - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

ZilviaBot · 03-17-2009, 08:20 PM

03-17-2009 04:29 PM

Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Nissan, Earnings/Financials

If you were to query Autoblog staffers and many savvy enthusiasts for what they wanted in a car, you'd swear that perhaps 70% of America's auto market would shortly be composed of rear-drive turbodiesel station wagons and hatchbacks. Sadly, the theoretical popularity of such vehicles rarely translates to sales out in the buying public, so such offerings are few and far between. Diesel fuel, in particular, has enjoyed a wave of positive U.S. enthusiast publicity, what with its torquetastic nature and noise, vibration, and harshness improvements.

Yet not only are there precious few diesel cars and trucks available, in these lean times, automakers are threatening to pull back from already announced future product commitments. Acura is widely believed to be delaying and/or killing d plans for a derv TSX, and earlier this month General Motors put its promising 4.5-liter V8 on ice. Now, Edmunds AutoObserver is reporting that Nissan my delay or scrap its previously announced Maxima diesel model. Thankfully, at least the Europeans seem to be moving forward with their diesel initiatives, with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI selling well, the thoroughly wonderful BMW 335d coming on stream, and future offerings like an Audi A3 TDI not too far away.

Still, we can't help but wonder if the combination of fallen gas prices and general economic malaise will scupper diesel's viability in the U.S. just as fuel prices finally move toward cost-per-gallon parity with gasoline. Oh, the humanity.

[Source: Edmunds AutoObserver]U.S. diesel fortunes dim as word comes that Nissan may scrap Maxima oil burner originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mangudai · 03-18-2009, 01:29 AM

Something needs to be done to sway the public in my opinion. I doubt this will happen but it would be a real shame if automakers scrap all their diesel models out of doubt.

03-17-2009, 08:20 PM	#1
ZilviaBot Zilvia.net Bot Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 199 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	U.S. diesel fortunes dim as word comes that Nissan may scrap Maxima oil burner 03-17-2009 04:29 PM Filed under: Car Buying, Trends, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Nissan, Earnings/Financials If you were to query Autoblog staffers and many savvy enthusiasts for what they wanted in a car, you'd swear that perhaps 70% of America's auto market would shortly be composed of rear-drive turbodiesel station wagons and hatchbacks. Sadly, the theoretical popularity of such vehicles rarely translates to sales out in the buying public, so such offerings are few and far between. Diesel fuel, in particular, has enjoyed a wave of positive U.S. enthusiast publicity, what with its torquetastic nature and noise, vibration, and harshness improvements. Yet not only are there precious few diesel cars and trucks available, in these lean times, automakers are threatening to pull back from already announced future product commitments. Acura is widely believed to be delaying and/or killing d plans for a derv TSX, and earlier this month General Motors put its promising 4.5-liter V8 on ice. Now, Edmunds AutoObserver is reporting that Nissan my delay or scrap its previously announced Maxima diesel model. Thankfully, at least the Europeans seem to be moving forward with their diesel initiatives, with the Volkswagen Jetta TDI selling well, the thoroughly wonderful BMW 335d coming on stream, and future offerings like an Audi A3 TDI not too far away. Still, we can't help but wonder if the combination of fallen gas prices and general economic malaise will scupper diesel's viability in the U.S. just as fuel prices finally move toward cost-per-gallon parity with gasoline. Oh, the humanity. [Source: Edmunds AutoObserver]U.S. diesel fortunes dim as word comes that Nissan may scrap Maxima oil burner originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. PermalinkÂ\|ÂEmail thisÂ\|ÂComments More...

03-18-2009, 01:29 AM	#2
Mangudai Zilvia Addict Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: South Posts: 656 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Something needs to be done to sway the public in my opinion. I doubt this will happen but it would be a real shame if automakers scrap all their diesel models out of doubt. __________________ Almost there.

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