Push for diesel

[SlickHolden]

http://carsguide.news.com.au/story/0...-21822,00.html

22 February 2006

Mark Hinchliffe

Ford has unwittingly played its part in Holden's return to diesel passenger cars, which could include an oil-burning Commodore.

GM Holden surprised everyone when it announced at the Melbourne Motor Show last week that it would introduce an Astra diesel later this year.

The driving force behind Holden's decision came from executive director of product planning Ian Cleave.

"I've been a diesel campaigner for many years; ever since I drove my first modern-generation diesel. It was a Ford Focus when I was on holidays in France," he said.

"Ever since, I've pushed for Astra diesel and diesel generally.

"The opportunity was there that there was a competitive diesel from Vauxhall and Opel."

The Astra diesel will feature the 1.9-litre turbocharged diesel engine from the European Vauxhall and Opel Astras.

Cleave said the turning point was January 1 when diesel fuel sold in Australia was required to have a lower sulphur content.



"We feel that now that diesel fuel quality in Australia has been brought up to almost Euro levels the time was perfect to launch into the Australian market.
"We wanted to be the first mainstream brand in Australia to launch a diesel passenger car."

And a Commodore diesel may not be too far away, either.

"We've tested a number of engines in Australian conditions. We've had diesel Commodores running for two years now," Cleave said.

He said they had experienced no technical issues in testing except for fuel quality.

However, he said their research showed that diesel buyers were typically small car buyers with significantly higher incomes and high education standards.

"They are people who are technology savvy who are buying diesel not for fuel economy but for performance and the technology image factor," he said.

"They are typically younger people, but also empty nesters."

GM Holden boss Denny Mooney said he expected Astra diesel would represent about 10-12 per cent of the total, despite Volkswagen Golf and Peugeot 307 diesels now passing 50 per cent.

GM Holden's new executive director of sales and marketing, Alan Batey, said that when they asked dealers how many they thought they could sell "they asked for double the Astra diesels we felt we would need".

"We went back to them and said we will not accept those orders," he said.

"I am not going to set a sales target on the up side. It's not to grow volume, but to show technology.

"It will be positioned to be great value and we will see what happens; let's see if the demand is there."

He said that if demand was high, Holden was equipped to meet supply.

Cleave said the market potential for Astra would depend on the price of diesel fuel.

"As refineries' capacity in Asia is better aligned to demand then the price of diesel will be consistently slightly above petrol."

The Astra diesel will be launched later this year. No prices are yet set.

Batey confirmed that a diesel Commodore was inevitable. "Not at the launch but down the track at some time," he said.

"If there is a move toward it we will have our finger on the pulse and will be on to it."

[henk4]

finally somebody is seeing the light, strange that he had to travel to France for that.

I love the description of the diesel car driver....

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by henk4

finally somebody is seeing the light, strange that he had to travel to France for that.....

Historically, not many rental diesels in the UK.
The fear of petrol going in the tank I suspect

[henk4]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Historically, not many rental diesels in the UK.
The fear of petrol going in the tank I suspect

like the amrican lady who rented a Citroen Xsara(?) and though it had an autobox and did everything in 1st gear....

[SLoppYJeeP]

I think the problem in America is that the low hp numbers of diesel engines turns off many car shoppers. Maybe audi will put some technology from the r10 into audis/vws to take care of that problem.

[coolieman1220]

in america, diesel is more expensive still. also diesel is still stereotyped as that loud, icky, trucker stuff. i'd buy a diesel. lots of torque more MPG. there are many pro's and cons. another problem is that diesel emits more harmful emmisions which i think the US wants to stay away from.

[Matra et Alpine]

old diesel, old cars, old technology is worse.

[Blue Supra]

i see it as a good thing. despite diesel being 10+ cents more expensive then petrol (or as much as the premium i fill up with ) itll do good to the image of little diesel cars.

i wouldnt buy something as big as a commodore in diesel but a little runabout would be cool.

dont BMW make a diesel 1 series?

[coolieman1220]

yeah i'd love a 1 series diesel. its fun in GT4

[Blue Supra]

i bought one over the normal petrol one, same power, more torque at lower revs...

why wouldnt you buy one?

[fpv_gtho]

Originally Posted by Blue Supra

i see it as a good thing. despite diesel being 10+ cents more expensive then petrol (or as much as the premium i fill up with ) itll do good to the image of little diesel cars.

i wouldnt buy something as big as a commodore in diesel but a little runabout would be cool.

dont BMW make a diesel 1 series?

On the contrary i would probably take a diesel if it was in a large car as opposed to a small car as i'd expect the gains over petrol to be more, given how much the low down torque would work. I suppose though if i wanted a small car and with an auto a diesel would be pretty noticeable...

[nota]

<< gets ready to overtake struggling $30k Astra diesel in the bigger, faster & cheaper to run Falcon LPG, also bought for $30k

[charged]

Id definitely buy a diesel again, I had the old low tech 3 litre TD in the surf(same engine as prado except no intercooler) that gave me great fuel economy when towing the boat or the race cars, the petrol version I have now has more power but when you tow something over a 1000kg, it loves a drink

[Blue Supra]

LPG is getting more expensive. its over 60c commonly now. if it hits 75c itll be the same price to run as a standard falcon due the LPG drinkn gas faster.

the goverments introducing the same sortof tariffs on LPG come 2008 (i think)so LGP will be pretty much pointless.

[nota]

Originally Posted by Blue Supra

LPG is getting more expensive. its over 60c commonly now. if it hits 75c itll be the same price to run as a standard falcon due the LPG drinkn gas faster.

the goverments introducing the same sortof tariffs on LPG come 2008 (i think)so LGP will be pretty much pointless.

Last time I checked prices LPG was 60c vs $1.24 for petrol. How much is petrol in your area? I'd be surprised if LPG wasn't still 45% less (except in Queensland)

At worst, LPG use is about 20% more than petrol. If in the unlikely event that LPG rises to 75c yet for some strange reason petrol does not rise but stays at present prices ($1.20 for arguments sake) then 75c + 20% = 90c which would still make LPG approx 30% [EDIT 25%] cheaper in real terms. Even a 30% saving on fuel is not inconsiderable imo

Originally Posted by Federal Minister for Resources

There’ll be no [LPG] excise before July 2011 and even then it will be introduced progressively over five years. The government will further support the LPG marketing effort with a $1,000 capital grant for those who buy a new dedicated or dual fuel LPG vehicle. The idea being to expand the on-road market for LPG and off-set the excise from 2011