Episode #283 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Dan and Zach chat about the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500, the Chevrolet SS, and Kia exploring diesels for the U.S. market. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #283:
Topics:
Ford Shelby GT500
Holden sending RWD Commodore Stateside
Kia mulling diesel for the U.S.
In the Autoblog Garage:
2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid
2012 Audi A6
2012 Honda Fit
Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Zach Bowman
Runtime: 01:08:54
Get the podcast
[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
If we had a dollar for every time we read a headline that said, "[insert automaker here] considering a diesel for U.S. market," we'd have a pretty sizable stack of Washingtons. So why, then, is this story of particular interest?
After the website Efficient Automobile wrote about the possibility of Kia offering a diesel-powered Optima here in the United States, the automaker took things a step further, addressing this on its Facebook page. Kia's North American public relations team asks its loyal followers, "Would you drive a diesel?" And from what we can tell after a quick scan of the comments, there yeses certainly seem to outweigh the nos.
In Europe, the Optima is available with a 1.7-liter turbo-diesel four, good for 134 horsepower and 239 pound-feet of torque. The decidedly vague story from Efficient Automobile also states that the diesel Optima shares many of the visual upgrades that we have on the U.S.-spec Optima Hybrid, including a lowered ride height and special wheels.
It's worth mentioning that Kia's North American PR Facebook account is largely geared towards the U.S. media, and we have yet to meet a single member of the automotive press who wouldn't drive a diesel. But since Kia PR does not restrict its Facebook page, perhaps this is a small way for the automaker to gauge customer interest about the possibility of offering a diesel-powered car here in the United States. And to answer the question at hand, yes, Kia, we would.
Automotive News reports Nissan will turn to Magna Steyr to build a new Infiniti compact car in 2014. The Austrian manufacturer will assemble the vehicle as part of the luxury brand's efforts to grow in western Europe and other global markets.
So far, Nissan and Infiniti have been tight-lipped about what the vehicle will bring to the table, but earlier reports have hinted the model will be designed to compete directly with the likes of the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz A-Class. Speaking of Mercedes-Benz, the new Infiniti will likely ride on the same underpinnings as the current A and B-Class models.
The report says Nissan is set to use a number of Daimler components in the new compact, including Mercedes-Benz four and six-cylinder engines. Expect to see both gasoline and diesel variants as well. Magna Steyr is expected to produce between 50,000 and 60,000 Infiniti units per year. The two companies are currently finalizing the details of the agreement.
Watch out, Wayne Gerdes, there's a new hypermiling crew in town.
John and Helen Taylor - Volkswagen calls them "mileage experts" and "the world's most fuel-efficient couple" - recently drove a stock 2012 Passat TDI SE all the way from Houston, Texas to Sterling, Virginia without refueling. That's 1,626.1 miles from just 19.3 gallons. Bad with numbers? VW has done the math for you: it's 84.1 miles per gallon (we came up with 84.2, but who's counting?).
The three-day trip happened earlier this month, and it turns out that the Taylors are not new to the high mileage game. They have previously set the "48 Contiguous U.S. States Fuel Economy Guinness World Record." Still, the new Passat TDI record is impressive and it mimics some of the ways that Gerdes runs his hypermiling trips. As you can see in the gallery, the gas tank was filled to the brim with gas (see here) and there was a LOT of documentation going on during the trip. These sorts of things are important, since the Taylors often run workshops on driving efficiently and have, over the years, "collected more than 90 world fuel economy and vehicle-related records from drives around the globe." They run the website Fuel Academy.
Continue reading High-MPG Taylors drive a Volkswagen Passat 1,626 miles on one tank of diesel
BMW wants to take another look at over 24,000 vehicles it's sold in the United States. No, this isn't just to check out how they're holding up in the real world, it's to make sure the smoke coming out of the tailpipe is clean enough.
BMW is recalling a total of 24,340 vehicles from the 2009-2011 model years - roughly 2,740 2011 or 2012 X5 xDrive50i and X6 xDrive50i vehicles as well as 21,600 335d models - because some parts of the emissions system (the DEF mixer, EGR valve and SCR catalyst) can incorrectly calculate the vehicle mileage. This can cause too many emissions to come out of the tailpipe, according to the California emission control rules. The recall will start May 9. Drivers should be on the lookout for letters after that date, a spokesman told Automotive News.
Just two months ago, BMW had to recall 1.3 million 5 Series and 6 Series vehicles from the 2003 to 2010 model years, 368,000 of them in the U.S.
General Motors initially wanted to buy one-third of Isuzu Motors Ltd, which would give it the right to veto board decisions, but has scaled back how much of the Japanese company it might try to buy, according to a new Reuters report.
At current stock prices, GM would have paid more than $3 billion for a controlling share of the truckmaker, which specializes in small trucks and diesel powertrains. GM is now considering buying a 10 percent share, anonymous sources tell Reuters, which would make it the largest single owner of stock in the company. Toyota and Volkswagen both have smaller shares of Isuzu.
GM once owned nearly half of Isuzu but sold off its last 7.9 percent of the company in 2006.
The GM/Isuzu partnership helped bring vehicles to the U.S. like the Geo Storm, Chevrolet LUV, GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado. But there's no reason to expect a new small pickup for America this time around.
The potential deal, which sources tell Reuters is "very much preliminary", could open up the Southeast Asia market, where GM is currently a bit player. Additionally, GM could help Isuzu develop a hybrid or other environmentally friendly vehicles. It's almost enough to make us wonder why they ever sold it in the first place.
Lamborghini Urus, Beijing Motor Show, Scion xB and xD dropped, diesel vehicle sales up
Episode #279 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Chris, Dan, and Chris Paukert are joined by the phenomenon that is Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics to chat about the Lamborghini Urus, the Beijing Motor Show, the end of the Scion xB and xD, and the uptick in diesel vehicle sales. Your questions and comments power the end of the 'cast, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. We've embedded our Q&A module after the jump for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #279:
Lamborghini Urus
Beijing Motor Show
Scion xD, xB dropped
Diesel sales up 35 percent
In the Autoblog Garage
2012 Infiniti G37XS Coupe
2012 BMW 328i
Long-Term 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman
Hosts: Dan Roth, Chris Shunk, Chris Paukert
Runtime: 01:50:38
Get the podcast
[UStream] Listen live on Mondays at 10PM Eastern at UStream
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
We record Episode #279 of the Autoblog Podcast tonight, and we're joined by Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics. Drop us your questions via our Q&A module below, and chime in to direct our conversation. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #279
Lamborghini Urus
Beijing Motor Show
Scion xD, xB dropped
Diesel sales up 35 percent
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes
[RSS] Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
The challenge of small, efficient and clever hatchbacks catching on with the American masses is a long story that shows infrequent signs of becoming less challenging. The bottom line is that most U.S. consumers feel such vehicles are simply too small for our wide-open-spaces sensibilities. This smallness is only enhanced when one looks around while stopped at American intersections, only to see big and tall sheetmetal in all directions. There are admittedly serious strides being made in this segment in various U.S. markets, usually of the urban variety and on the coasts, but it will always be a struggle.
The last time Peugeot tried directly communicating in American English with imported product was back in 1991 with its 505 and 405 ranges that unceremoniously flopped. There was ongoing talk at that time of bringing over the 205 hatchback to try and improve things, but we missed out and Peugeot was gone. Perhaps the seven percent of PSA Peugeot-Citroën now owned by General Motors will someday result in the importing of the solid hatchback tested here, but I won't hold my breath.
Recently, the new Peugeot 208 was all over the French giant's show stand at the Geneva Motor Show, together with its legendary GTi trim and new XY upmarket trim. Back in 1984, it was the 105-horsepower 205 GTi that established the legend of the French hot hatch. While the 206 was then a smash hit with buyers between 1998 and 2006, the subsequently larger 207 has been far less popular in the face of much improved competitors - a group that blossomed from just 16 different models on the European market in 1998 to now 27 separate hatches today. In its prime, the 206 outsold even the mighty Volkswagen Golf and stayed at the top of Europe's sales charts for a time. The outgoing 207, however, has routinely lingered behind the Volkswagen Golf and Polo, Renault Clio, Opel Astra and Corsa, not to mention the Ford Focus and Fiesta.
It may come as a shock, but diesel cars are doing well outside of their traditional European home. The just-released Mazda CX-5 shows that diesels are selling beyond expectations in Japan, but the real story is that we might be seeing the start of a golden era for diesel-powered cars in the U.S. In fact, clean diesel sales were up 35 percent in the first quarter of 2012 over Q1 2011, a trend - and it is a trend, since diesel sales were up 27 percent in 2011 - that the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) says is due to higher fuel prices pushing people into the efficient oil-burners.
Allen Schaeffer, DTF's executive director, said in a statement that, "I expect clean diesel auto sales to increase further as several new diesel cars are introduced in the U.S. market in the next year."
Right now, it's pretty much all Jetta TDI, all the time.
Once those other vehicles arrive, we'll see how the market shakes out. Right now, it's pretty much all Jetta TDI, all the time. A while back, we spoke with Lars Ullrich, the director of marketing and business excellence, diesel systems North America, for Robert Bosch LLC. He told us that diesel Jettas made up 44 percent of all diesels sold in the U.S. last year, which makes the Jetta sort of the Prius of diesels in America. Last year, Volkswagen had 58 percent of all diesel sales in the U.S.
Does this mean the Jetta TDI is "the" diesel in the U.S.? Ullrich said it depends on how you look at the numbers. About 60 percent of all Audi A3s sold in the U.S. in 2011, for example, were diesel, but the A3 sells in smaller numbers overall than the Jetta. When you have diesels available in high-volume models, he said, you end up selling a lot of diesels.
Diesel-powered passenger cars and medium-duty pick-ups had around three percent market share in the U.S. in 2011.
What does the big picture look like? Overall, diesel-powered passenger cars and medium-duty pick-ups had around three percent market share in the U.S. in 2011. That may not sound like a lot, but compare it to the hybrid market share, which has gone from 2.7 to 2.4 to 2.1 percent over the last three years, Ullrich said. Today, there are 25 clean diesel models available in the U.S. By 2014, that number will double, he said, which gives us an indication of where the market is moving. Echoing Schaeffer, Bosch's prediction is that the U.S. will see diesels grab 10 percent of the market by 2015.
While increasingly popular, diesels are not perfect. There are issues like the $32-a-gallon urea liquid, for example, and a fossil fuel is a fossil fuel. But it's clear that Americans are considering diesel more than they used to. The question is what happens when the diesel Chevrolet Cruze and Jeep Grand Cherokee arrive? Or more of Mazda's Skyactiv-D models? And, further down the line, when we see more merging of electric and diesel powertrains, where the diesel - perhaps renewable diesel - is burned in an efficient generator to generate electricity. That's when things get even more exciting.
High gas prices are helping plug-in vehicles and hybrids do quite well in the U.S., too. The Diesel Technology Forum says hybrid sales increased 37.2 percent while plug-in electrics jumped 323 percent. Overall, vehicle sales were up 13.4 percent. For more number-crunching details, see our monthly green car sales charts for January, February and March of 2012. The DTF has compiled a list of all the diesel-powered vehicles available in the U.S. here.
