Nearly three decades after +General Motors virtually destroyed the US market for diesel cars, they are back with the 2014 Cruze diesel
For the first time since 1986, GM will be offering American customers a passenger car powered by a diesel engine. Will Americans be willing to pay a $2,000+ premium for this fuel efficient power option? Unlike Volkswagen which offers the Jetta TDI with the mid-level SE trim starting at $23,000, Chevrolet is only offering its new engine on a loaded Cruze with leather interior starting at $25,700.
This will prove to be very interesting to watch over the next year or two.
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We will have a Chevy Cruze diesel on display in the Biodiesel Green Room exhibit at the 2013 Twin Cities Auto Show.
Going after the Prius demo? Might want a delete leather option. German lux brands have "vegan" packages, but this may not be the Cruz buyer.
It will be interesting to see. From a financial perspective, I'm not sure these diesels make that much sense, at least here in New England. Diesel is like $4.20 while regular is $3.70 right now, so you're giving back some of the efficiency gains right off the bat. Couple that with more stringent maintenance requirements and possible reliability issues with all the high tech diesels need now (these are not the old diesels that ran for hundreds of thousands of miles on sludge).
What transmission(s) are they offering with the diesel? I do like the fact that it can officially support up to B20 (vs B5 of the TDI), but I am a bit disappointed that they couldn't hit 50mpg on the EPA scale like they were shooting for..