Photo: Audi
Can all those TDI engines with emissions many times over the legal limit be fixed? Who knows, but Audi will not try to offer any more Clean Diesel engines on the newly launched A4 sedan.
The TDI was a huge phenomenon for Audi a couple of years ago. On some models, these fuel-saving engines were reaching a 50% take. This all-new compact executive car has several diesels in Europe, ranging in output from 150 to about 270 horsepower. However, none of them are making it across the pond.
In an interview with Automotive News, Audi of America President Scott Keogh insists this has nothing to do with the Dieselgate scandal. The decision to drop the 2.0 TDI from the new A4 was made six months ago based on declining interest in diesel engines.
“The marketplace speaks, we listen to the marketplace, and the marketplace told us ‘Go with SUVs.’” the exec added.
While the market for diesels may be declining a bit, Audi was the clear leader in the premium segment. So the decision is not easily justified, nor does it have anything to do with SUVs, as the A4 will always be one of the most popular models. And if 4x4 is that important, why has AoA refused to bring the MINI Countryman rivaling Q2 model?
While fewer toxic emissions are a great thing, Audi customers will be missing out on some very frugal cars, especially when e-tron hybrids are not yet readily available.
European customers can order several 2.0 TDI engines with outputs of up to 190 hp and two more V6 engines. They offer modest increases in power and torque, as well as a reduction in fuel consumption of about 5% compared to the previous model.
The exec stated that TDI engines could make a comeback in the future, but believes that is unlikely to happen until the next-generation Audi models arrive. So either gas will stay cheap for a while longer or the technology isn't clean enough yet.
United States Environmental Protection Agency is still enforcing a stop-sale of TDI models in both Audi and Volkswagen ranges. So that's why you can't have nice things. But considering the magnitude of the Dieselgate scandal, the decision is understandable enough.
In an interview with Automotive News, Audi of America President Scott Keogh insists this has nothing to do with the Dieselgate scandal. The decision to drop the 2.0 TDI from the new A4 was made six months ago based on declining interest in diesel engines.
“The marketplace speaks, we listen to the marketplace, and the marketplace told us ‘Go with SUVs.’” the exec added.
While the market for diesels may be declining a bit, Audi was the clear leader in the premium segment. So the decision is not easily justified, nor does it have anything to do with SUVs, as the A4 will always be one of the most popular models. And if 4x4 is that important, why has AoA refused to bring the MINI Countryman rivaling Q2 model?
While fewer toxic emissions are a great thing, Audi customers will be missing out on some very frugal cars, especially when e-tron hybrids are not yet readily available.
European customers can order several 2.0 TDI engines with outputs of up to 190 hp and two more V6 engines. They offer modest increases in power and torque, as well as a reduction in fuel consumption of about 5% compared to the previous model.
The exec stated that TDI engines could make a comeback in the future, but believes that is unlikely to happen until the next-generation Audi models arrive. So either gas will stay cheap for a while longer or the technology isn't clean enough yet.
United States Environmental Protection Agency is still enforcing a stop-sale of TDI models in both Audi and Volkswagen ranges. So that's why you can't have nice things. But considering the magnitude of the Dieselgate scandal, the decision is understandable enough.
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