Most automakers are ditching plans to beef up production of diesel cars as a way to meet tougher federal mileage and emissions regulations. They now think that making diesels that are competitively priced will cost a mint and worry that down the road, Uncle Sam will tighten curbs on nitrogen oxide emissions.
Beginning this fall, they’ll go like gangbusters on hybrids, with Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Nissan bringing out new hybrid models and more gasoline-electric versions of current vehicles.
Carmakers are betting that costs will come down rapidly, with sticker prices just a few hundred dollars more than gas powered cars by 2015, thanks to advances in technology and increased production. Today, hybrids are still $1,500 to $2,000 more costly than gas versions. The differential for diesels is at least twice that much.
Automakers also fret that no matter what the sticker price on a diesel powered car, most consumers will shy away from buying one. “It is a matter of consumer perception, and the gasoline hybrid gets a lot more green-image mileage in the U.S. than diesels,” says Aaron Bragman, an auto analyst with IHS Global Insight, a business consultancy. No amount of jujitsu advertising can alter most consumers’ perception that it also costs a lot more to fill a car tank with diesel fuel than with gasoline, Bragman says.