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Despite a recent report showing sales of the Chevy Cruze Diesel were lagging behind the competition, Chevrolet is not ready to throw in the towel for this engine technology for its cars and light trucks anytime soon. As proof of this, GM’s vice president of global powertrains Steve Kiefer indicated that the automaker will be bringing more diesel vehicles to the U.S. over the next few years.
A report from Automotive News says that GM expects the market for diesel cars and light trucks to account for 10 percent of new-vehicle sales by 2020, and it will be incorporating more of the powerful and efficient engines into its short-term product lineup. It has already been announced that a 2.8-liter diesel will be offered next year in the 2016 Chevrolet Colorado and 2016 GMC Canyon, and it sounds like a diesel will find its way into the next-gen Cruze, which is expected to launch next year.
“The Chevrolet Cruze diesel will be the first of many diesel-powered passenger cars General Motors will offer in the United States. We will continue to introduce more diesels as appropriate and as the market accepts them,” Kiefer was quoted as saying in the report.
The Cruze Diesel launched a year ago offering up a 46-mpg highway rating, but only 5,974 buyers have opted for this model since last July. This compares with 46,409 sales of the Cruze Diesel’s key rival, the VW Jetta TDI, in the same time frame. Although there is no definitive timetable or specific products that GM plans to follow up the diesel Colorado/Canyon pickups and the 2016 Cruze, the article indicates that light-duty trucks like the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are the best bets.
In his speech, Kiefer touted the key diesel benefit to be torque, which would make perfect sense for the half-ton trucks – especially in the midst of the current tow-rating spat going on right now. On top of that, dealers can’t keep diesel Ram 1500 trucks on their lots, and next year, Toyota and Nissan are expected to introduce diesel half-ton trucks as well. Another likely sign of this was a report from last month, which hinted that the Cadillac Escalade will soon receive a turbo diesel V-6.
“The Chevrolet Cruze diesel will be the first of many diesel-powered passenger cars General Motors will offer in the United States. We will continue to introduce more diesels as appropriate and as the market accepts them,” Kiefer was quoted as saying in the report.
The Cruze Diesel launched a year ago offering up a 46-mpg highway rating, but only 5,974 buyers have opted for this model since last July. This compares with 46,409 sales of the Cruze Diesel’s key rival, the VW Jetta TDI, in the same time frame. Although there is no definitive timetable or specific products that GM plans to follow up the diesel Colorado/Canyon pickups and the 2016 Cruze, the article indicates that light-duty trucks like the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra are the best bets.
In his speech, Kiefer touted the key diesel benefit to be torque, which would make perfect sense for the half-ton trucks – especially in the midst of the current tow-rating spat going on right now. On top of that, dealers can’t keep diesel Ram 1500 trucks on their lots, and next year, Toyota and Nissan are expected to introduce diesel half-ton trucks as well. Another likely sign of this was a report from last month, which hinted that the Cadillac Escalade will soon receive a turbo diesel V-6.
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