General Motors may no longer do mass-market business in Europe, but the automaker opted to keep its Turin-based engineering center as it worked out a deal to sell Opel and Vauxhall to PSA Groupe.
At the Automotive News Europe Congress, General Motors powertrain executive Pierpaolo Antonioli said diesel still has a place in the world, but automakers need to act and take advantage of new technologies.
“Internal combustion engines, including the diesel, can still play a role in the years to come,” he said.
The GM executive pointed to new technology from Bosch, which introduced a new method to reduce NOx emissions to 13 milligrams per kilometer. The figures far outperform the current regulations of 80 mg/km allowed in current European regulations.
Another speaker at the event, Greg Archer, a director responsible for clean vehicles policy at the Brussels-based advocacy group Transport & Environment, said automakers must take responsibility and work with governments to ensure diesel engines pollute no more than a gasoline-powered engine.
He proposed cleaning up any affected diesel cars under former Euro 5 and Euro 6 regulations, supporting new regulations and a plan to fund cities’ clean-air plans.
In the meantime, diesel adoption rates continue to fall in the wake of new diesel-car bans. Germany will be first to instate a ban on older diesel cars in various parts of the country.
Comments
I thought Chevrolet was going to lead the market in diesel car sales in the US with the Cruze. Go and try to find one to drive at your local dealer. They are not promoting the diesel technology in the car segment. Also they are lacking in the performance dept. No road test I’ve read gives high marks to the Cruze. I wish they would buy a VW TDI and tear this car apart to learn how to build a desirable diesel. I have one of the affected so called scandal cars. I elected to keep it in lieu of selling it back to VW. I love this car! It performs, it handles, and is fun to drive. VW had it right, just got a little 2 big for their britche’s. I don’t want an under performing diesel, that pitches and yaws like an over weight sow. Make the Cruze with an energetic manual transmission option as well as the automatic and I’ll buy one. But as of now the Cruze diesel doesn’t cut the mustard for me. I REPEAT! They need to buy one of the VW’s and evaluate it and make the damn thing available to purchase. I grew up in a Chevrolet/OLds family dealership and I love most of my Chevy’s. Make me Proud again!
Fuel efficient hybrids are a dying breed and some automakers are evolving them to performance applications…Diesels were a Lutz project but in general most people do not like them beyond those who tow…The king right now is the turbo for both fuel economy and performance…
I’d get the car pictured at the top of the article because it has my initials on it.