Selling the Love of Diesel

The venerable diesel engine has a lot going for it -- but not its image. Carmakers will have to change that to win over U.S. consumers

by David Kiley

With federal regulations requiring the availability of low-sulphur diesel fuel in the U.S. by this October, auto makers are promoting diesel models and engines they already sell in Europe for sale in America. There's already a savvy, but small, U.S. audience eager to try diesel models for the high gas mileage they afford. Yet they won't begin to capture anything close to the cachet enjoyed by hybrid cars with the greater driving public -- not until someone comes up with clever, well-funded marketing and advertising of diesel engines.

Truth is, the American perception of diesel engines is that they're dirty, noisy, and problematic. Besides the plumes of stinky black stuff that spew from tractor-trailer vertical exhaust pipes on the highway, it seems that the horrible disaster-prone diesel engines General Motors (GM) foisted on the public in the late 1970s -- they were converted from regular gas engines -- left a dark cloud hanging over diesel for some time. But diesels have changed since then, and it's up to manufacturers to convince U.S. buyers (see BW, 2/20/06, "Diesel Gets Cleaner and Greener").

The auto maker talking up diesels the most is DaimlerChrysler (DCX). That's only natural, since the company is well invested in diesel engines in Europe, where they make up nearly 50% of new-car sales. Mercedes-Benz's system, called BlueTec -- available in the U.S. later this year in the E-Class -- uses a catalytic converter and special filters to reduce harmful nitrogen-oxide emissions to levels more acceptable to the Environmental Protection Agency and the persnickety California Air Resources Board. And the diesel gets 40% greater miles per gallon than Mercedes' conventional gasoline engine.

"A DIRTY WORD."

Chrysler vehicles sold in Europe, such as the Dodge Magnum, Town & Country minivan, and Jeep Liberty, will also offer a version of BlueTec. And it's a short jump to get those vehicles to the U.S., says Joe Eberhard, Chrysler's sales and marketing chief. "We are big believers in diesel as part of the solution in America, but it's a big marketing challenge," explains Eberhard, who plans to spur interest through media relations and events at which consumers can drive the cars and sniff the tailpipe.

Sounds good, but don't forget advertising. Diesel versions of Mercedes, Jeep, and Volkswagen vehicles have always gotten scant ad support, and for pretty good reason: Until now, all three companies could sell all the diesels they could reasonably bring to the U.S. with just a few print ads and direct mailings to the already diesel-savvy consumer. VW, which has long sold diesel Golfs and Jettas, and sometimes New Beetles and Passats, has been by far the perennial diesel leader in the U.S.

But VW doesn't even utter the word "diesel" in ads, calling them instead TDI, as in Jetta TDI. "It's literally been a dirty word in the U.S.," says Volkswagen head of production Wolfgang Bernhard, who was previously chief operating officer of Chrysler Group and championed the introduction of a diesel Jeep Liberty in the U.S.

For all the boosting of diesel done by the Germans, who are well vested in trying to sell the engines they have in Europe to U.S. consumers, what this much-maligned fuel needs to win acceptance from a reluctant U.S. consumer is for the Japanese to put their green imprint on it. Honda Motor (HMC), for one, is poised to help diesel along. Honda says it will bring four-cylinder diesel engines to the U.S. for some of its vehicles (probably the Civic and CRV models), beginning in 2010.

HONDA'S TRACK RECORD.

For those unfamiliar with Honda and what makes it tick, this company is foremost an engine outfit.