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Backseat Driver: Europeans get with diesels

Diesels are taking over in Europe.

While Asian car makers are busy putting their eggs into gas-electric hybrid technology - Toyota sees hybrids being the main powertrain of its vehicles by 2020 - Europe has moved aggressively ahead with clean diesel engines. (U.S. automakers are playing coy, investing in all technologies but committing to none.)

I just returned from a trip to visit family in southern England and the tractor-toc of diesel engines could be heard from cars large and small, including the 2007 VW Passat 2.0 TDI that I rented from Budget Rent A Car at Heathrow Airport and the 2007 BMW 118 d M Sport Diesel rocket my sister-in-law drives.

TDI stands for Turbo Direct Injection which is the heart of the Audi-VW new diesel technology, the key being the intense pressure under which the fuel is injected directly into the combustion chamber. Indeed, while diesel is more oily than gasoline, the pressure is such that it is virtually turned into a gas, making combustion more intense and more efficient.

And to prove their technology, Audi's TDI R10 race cars have won the last two Le Mans 24-Hour Endurance Races in grand style. These cars are ferociously fast.

Getting back to my modest Passat, l found its performance to be outstanding in comparison with a gasoline engine. Certainly, the traditional torque of diesel-power provided a powerful and solid kick to its acceleration.

More important perhaps, the price was right. In all, I traveled 490 miles. The car was full when I rented it and I refueled it just once and that was before returning it. The tank was just under half empty and needed 38.6 liters to fill.

Translating into American, that’s about 10.2 gallons, which equates to an excellent 48 miles to the gallon. In addition, the fuel’s efficiency makes it cleaner from an emissions point of view.

Let's see: Fast, quiet, economic to run and lower emissions. Sounds like a winner to me!

Incidentally, another sign of the times in Europe: Of the three nozzles at each of the pump stands at the BP station, only one was gasoline – 95 octane at the equivalent of about $7 a gallon. The other two were diesel – Ultima at $7.69 a gallon and regular at $7.35 a gallon.

That’s expensive, but when you are getting 48 miles to the gallon, the economics work and that’s why Europeans increasingly drive new diesels. Indeed, sales of diesel-powered cars in Europe topped 50% in 2006 (51%), rising to 52.2% for the first six months of this year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. About 75 percent of the cars in Norway now run on diesel.

I am not saying clean diesel is the answer. Gas hybrids are a real alternative with diesel hybrids perhaps being the best of both worlds. And down the line, fuel cell electric power perhaps provides a real glimpse of the future. But that future is at lesat 20 years away.

In the meantime, clean diesel offers a solid step up from gasoline and as I have mentioned a number of times, now that most the U.S. has low-sulfur diesel available, look for a big increase in sales of European diesels starting next year.

I just wish Volvo would get on and bring its V50 2.4D5 diesel wagon over here!

- Peter C.T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 2:38 PM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 1

Backseat Driver: Barmy Brits turn Ford Ka into Orka

Yes, here it is, a Ford Ka turned into a killer whale courtesy of a body kit available in Britain.

I saw one parked in a driveway near my father's house in West Sussex and it's quite a sight. What it is to drive, I cannot imagine!

I'll be writing more about both the Ford Ka and the OrKa kit in a short story for Sunday's Providence Journal.

- Peter C. T. Elsworth

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:46 AM to commentary | Permalink | Comments 0

Nissan, Renault leader Ghosn still interested in U.S. partner

CHIBA, Japan -- Carlos Ghosn, who heads the automakers Nissan of Japan and Renault of France, said Wednesday he remains interested in a partnership with a major U.S. automaker, although he is not in talks or aggressively looking just yet, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn told reporters the timing wasn’t right to expand the Nissan-Renault alliance, formed in 1999, because Nissan Motor Co. is now in a lull of “consolidation” before going to the next stage of growth.

He did not mention by name any of the three biggest U.S. automakers — General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC.

Speculation has been growing that Chrysler and Ford may be looking for partners as they struggle to restructure their operations and boost profits.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:19 AM to Nissan | Permalink | Comments 0

Today's Chrysler contract vote vital

Two UAW locals in Indiana representing about 5,300 workers voted down the proposed Chrysler national labor contract yesterday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The rejections continued the up-and-down fortunes of the pact and raised the stakes for how four metro Detroit factories -- adding up to 20% of the total Chrysler membership -- will vote today on the landmark agreement.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:16 AM to Chrysler , Unions | Permalink | Comments 0

EU ruling lets foreign investors make runs at VW, others

FRANKFURT, Germany — Porsche set out to fail the last time it made a takeover for Volkswagen. That likely won't be the case if it tries again, according to USA Today.

The sports car company has an open road for another attempt, after the European Union's highest court struck down the nearly 50-year old "VW law" enacted to protect Europe's largest automaker from a hostile takeover.

Tuesday's ruling will reverberate across Europe, where many governments have attempted to protect companies they see as vital to their economies from being bought, particularly by foreign investors.

German politicians and labor unions had argued that the 47-year-old measure was needed to protect local jobs.

The EU Court of Justice, however, said the law — which capped a shareholder's voting rights at 20%, whatever the size of its holding — limited "the free movement of capital" that is a tenet of the European Union.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:13 AM to Porsche , VW | Permalink | Comments 0

Honda upping number of fuel-cell cars on U.S. roads

TOCHIGI, Japan — Honda will deliver fewer than 100 of its new fuel-cell cars next year, when it's scheduled for introduction in the United States, the automaker's top executive said yesterday at the company's research and development headquarters here, according to USA Today.

Though a small number, it is several times as many FCX hydrogen fuel-cell sedans as the automaker currently has on U.S. roads. Only two of those are in the hands of individuals and about 20 more are in fleet service by governments and other institutions.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:10 AM to Alternative fuels , Honda | Permalink | Comments 0

Dealers finally feel heard at Chrysler

Chrysler dealers have a new outlook about their business, an emotion many say they haven't faced in decades, according to USA Today: optimism.

With new leadership in place — including Jim Press, a former top Toyota executive — struggling Chrysler is set to make a rapid recovery, dealers say.

They're even embracing the idea that Chrysler has to reduce its number of dealers and offer fewer models, moves that in the past would have been expected to stir up controversy.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:09 AM to Chrysler | Permalink | Comments 0

Oil Prices Surge on Inventory Report

NEW YORK -- Oil futures surged Wednesday after the government reported large and unexpected declines in crude and gasoline inventories, according to the Associated Press.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery jumped $1.49 to $86.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

November gasoline rose 3.94 cents to $2.1483 a gallon on the Nymex, and heating oil for November jumped 4.92 cents to $2.349 a gallon.

Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth  at 11:06 AM to Crude oil market | Permalink | Comments 0