Audi has been plugging away with a message that diesel vehicles would be an immediate way to reduce American dependence on foreign oil, via a clever TV commercial. Of course, the company also wants to move Q7 SUVs and A3 compacts fitted with its TDI engines—which now comprise 45 percent of the Q7 mix, by the way—but has been hampered because there’s not much incentive to switch when diesel fuel is more expensive than gasoline.
Audi of America president Johann de Nysschen says, even so: “There are many things driving Audi to diesel. First of all, diesel is a core competency at Audi and clearly one wants to capitalize on your strengths that give you a competitive advantage. Quite frankly, we have been frustrated that we haven’t been able to leverage that advantage in this marketplace.
“It is clear that we need to use all available technologies to help the industry move forward and meet not only legislative fuel targets but actually help contribute to lessening the impact on the environment. We are not claiming that clean diesel is the only avenue but it is such a compelling alternative that we are saying it shouldn’t be ignored.
“Much of the consumer and political attention is devoted to hybrid technology and into electric cars. All these have their benefits, but if you look at the timeline and the cost of really exploiting these technologies, we think diesel is just too attractive to be ignored.”
Head of global sales and marketing Peter Schwarzenbauer adds: “If you look at this from the outside and encouraged 30 percent of Americans to drive modern diesels—not just Audis, but modern diesel technology from other makers—you could really save 1.4 million barrels of oil a day. On the other hand, you have the government investing billions in new technologies that will do the same thing in 10 to 15 years. This is where we sometimes have a hard time—why isn’t the discussion more objective about how it is really possible to save fuel today, if as a country we are serious about an energy policy. It would be a different discussion if this was triggered from outside the industry because people always assume we say this because we have an interest in selling our product.”
Obviously, good modern diesel engines are torquey and ideally suited to SUVs. But until diesel is a lot cheaper than gasoline, it’s our view that the take rate will always be small because most people don’t drive enough miles every year to pay for the increased cost over a gasoline engine. It would be interesting to see if the Obama administration had the guts to pass a gas tax as a wartime levy while keeping diesel taxes low to please the environmental lobby. It’s one way to force automakers and consumers into diesel, which benefits the manufacturers because it’s the only way some of them will reach upcoming CAFE standards. And if the cheaper cost of fuel offsets the higher price of diesel-engined cars, then that helps consumers, too.
