General Motors sent quite the message when it introduced the 2014 Chevy Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel (let’s just call it “Cruze Diesel“, ok?) last month, becoming the only automaker outside of Volkswagen to offer a diesel powerplant in a mainstream compact vehicle. And while GM’s message was heard loud and clear by diesel fans across North America, the origins of the 2.0 liter oil burner weren’t as widely-recognized… like the fact that the engine was co-developed by General Motors and Fiat.
You see, General Motors embarked on a collaborative undertaking in the late 90s/early 2000s with Fiat. The partnership didn’t work out and was dissolved years later, but one of the remaining pieces of the alliance is a facility that remains today as GM’s R&D powertrain center in Turin, Italy. Among other things, the center is responsible for the development of certain powerplants, including the 2.0 liter diesel engine found in the North America-market Cruze Diesel, the Euro-market Chevy Malibu, Opel Insignia and Astra. GM calls this engine line “Family B”, while Fiat calls it “JTD-series”.
The primary reason for GM’s decision to use the the Family B diesel is emissions regulations: the stringent Euro VI standards that go into effect at the end of 2013, while the U.S. has its own set of similar emissions that are equally stringent, collectively known as Tier 2 Bin 5 standards. Luckily, the Family B engines are already capable of meeting both standards.
The 2014 Cruze Turbo Diesel is expected to attain 42 MPG on the highway while paired with an automatic transmission — equal to that of the gasoline-powered Chevy Cruze Eco with a manual gearbox. The Cruze TD will, however, deliver more power than the gasoline-powered Eco and have a longer range. Meanwhile, General Motors is rolling out its all-new 1.6 liter turbo-diesel Ecotec engine in its European lineup; the engine was developed in-house and is part of GM’s global engine rejuvenation strategy.
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Comments
Are you guys sure it’s not Family Z engine?
Yes, Vic. It’s not a fam Z.
So then this one youre talking about is the one from VM-Motori?
This is interesting because most of the foreign Cruzes have a diesel engine developed by VM Motori. I believe GM is limited to only using the Fiat diesels in cars originating in Europe when sold in Europe. But you are correct the 1956cc engine is from Fiat rather than the 1991cc VM Motori unit used in other European Cruzes.
VM motori is owned by GM and Fiat.
And VM Motori is not a left-over from the GM-FIAT alliance, but that partnership came later, by GM buying the 50% share in VM Motori of Penske.
I still think it’s a huge mistake to offer the diesel only in the expensive LTZ trim, but I guess time will tell. GM seems to figure diesel buyers are looking for a premium car, but all the diesel fans I know are mainly trying to be cheap. That is why I think having a higher starting price than the VW is a bad idea.
Addendum: I can imagine people’s responses to my statement above, so let me clarify. Yes, I know diesels all cost more than all gas engine versions of the same car. What I mean is that it’s a bad idea to have a competitor’s diesel vehicle available at a lower cost than the GM diesel vehicle.
bronc624, I think there is some truth to what you say. I believe they should have given the whole range the engine option, not just a top line model with a diesel engine thing.
I agree. It is a bad idea that VW is selling their Diesel for less than the Cruze Diesel, so it is VW’s fault! Anyway, the Cruze does sell more worldwide than any VW, so if the Diesel version cost a little more, it is still the better vehicle for anyone who wishes to drive a Diesel.
@Raymondjram Not sure if this was the case in 2012, but the VW Golf range has been the most popular car model for a few years in the 2000s. That said, the global Cruze sales volume range doesn’t come close to that of VW’s Golf, which usually sells a million (or more) units per annum.
@bronc624 “… it’s a bad idea to have a competitor’s diesel vehicle available at a lower cost than the GM diesel vehicle.”
Unless the bulk of the competition’s diesel-powered vehicles are highly-contended. I don’t know if this is, in fact, the case or not… but it is a possibility that we should consider before announcing that the Cruze TD is at a disadvantage.
When we first got diesels in UK back in the 80’s they were basic spec ones, in time the range of models has grown. Perhaps the reason the Cruze diesel is priced so high is GM may have concerns it could compete & therefore take sales from other Cruze models.
I specifically buy petrols, & before anybody gets excited and says I’m out of touch with the market I belive manufatures need diesels in their range even if I don’t like the idea. My preferences aside I wonder how many people go out to replace their family cars with a choice of diesel & petrol models & compare the two to find the best for their needs.
In Germany, nearly half of all new passenger cars are Diesel powered, in France the share is, I understand, even four fifths.
This is caused partly by taxing diesel fuel lower than regular petrol, which was originally intended to help the truck operators. But for those people driving much and long distances, investing more for a diesel engine in their passenger cars makes sense by saving on fuel cost.
So the premium brands like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes have the highest percentages of diesel power in their passenger cars sold. In 2012, 98% of all Audi Q7 sold had a diesel engine, 69% of all A8 and S8.
Remember how the diesel powered Le Mans race cars by Audi and Peugeot won all the Le Mans 24 hour races where they competed.
Most likely because the diesel option is so expensive Chevy could not charge enough to make their required profit Margin. So they have to offset that with the higher featured/ higher profit upper model to get the required profit margin.
Did this with the old regal models we used to sell. (Abboud, etc). Require higher profit features (sunroof, chrome wheels, etc) and then give a discount to entice buyers to buy. Those special models were developed to get buyers to buy the loaded/ higher profit models.
The market is familiar with VW diesels. But Chevrolet Diesels in Passenger cars will take time to gain acceptance in the marketplace. Do we know what the sales goal is?
I hope this GM-Fiat diesel engine is a good one. I had hoped that GM would license VW-Audi diesel technology, but unfortunately in my view, that didn’t happen.
@Frank Landers It is a good engine. Not as good as the all-new 1.6 range from GM/Opel, but it is still good and comparable to the VW EA series diesel.
As for licensing VW’s tech, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. As a large, global automaker, it is vital for GM to have its own powertrain technology, diesel engines for passenger vehicles included. In plain terms, not having its own diesel engine (line) will not only result in decreased profitability, but will also be a competitive disadvantage that if not prevents, then restratins GM from differentiating itself from the competition.
I think it takes 20 years to enter into an established segment (not including new trends) many know it exists that want it although for many it will be purchased two or three car replacements down the line and not always at launch.
True, I cannot speak as to the profit margin GM may have to play with here. Let’s run on the assumption that there is at least some, which VW uses to their advantage.
A great way to enter an established market and steal sales from the incumbent is by making your entry the price leader. You build sales, even with very limited profit at first, then over time increase your price so it gets closer to the competitor. This is very commonly used in business, including the auto industry. They need the diesel on a lower trim level to have a chance at doing this. They were right in not continuing to let VW have this whole space to themselves in North America, even though it is still very niche at this time. They just need to give themselves a competitive advantage.
@bronc624 Well, the competitive advantage is two-fold:
1. When comparing apples-to-apples, the Cruze TD is less expensive than a comparable Jetta TDI. That’s a price advantage seen on the trim level classification — something I assume most consumers don’t consider as much as the base price of a vehicle.
2. The significant fuel economy and power advantage compared to the Jetta TDI, the former being announced earlier today:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/04/chevrolet-cruze-clean-turbo-diesel-sets-fuel-economy-benchmark-with-46-highway-mpg-rating/
Taking all this into consideration, I think the strategy is to enter the market profitably with a bette product that carries a premium over the competition; then, as the range’s sales volume grows (with the next-gen Cruze, and costs are built into the program), expand downward and upward. It’s a conservative yet thoughtful approach to entering the segment… and one that prevents the product from being associated with negative undertones (cheap, etc.).
@Alex, I gave this more thought since I did that post and what I thought ws pretty much from your reply. Maybe it makes most sense to enter the market with a trim level that enables them to generate a decent profit, and eventually once they have leveraged that setup here they can offer the diesel in a lower trim level that is lower profit but will likely see more sales.
As for the fuel economy advantage, my assumption is that before long VW will have revamped their powertrain and increased the fuel economy of the Jetta TDI to pretty much match the Cruze. Whenever that happens, GM will have to be prepared to have the lower trim level set so they can compete on base price, which as you mentioned is what most people consider.
Time will tell, I guess. Sure hope the Cruze diesel sells well and takes some sales away from VW!
Cruze with Auto trans only?! Lame. 6 speed manual and drop the price $1k and I might trade my 3rd vw TDi. Oh, wait, DEF too? Come on GM, get with it! Wagon?
I drive 100 miles a day to work and back, had two new Chev. Cobalt’s (05 and 10) with over 100k on them (bought new) until trading the ’10 for a new Cruze Diesel… I like the range and the build of the car, so to me it makes sense if you run 1600 miles per month, to have one. For my situation, I’m actually putting money back in my pocket (vs gasoline) every month!