Slowly, but surely, the number of diesel-powered passenger cars and light-duty vehicles driving on US roads is going up. This is helped by the dispelling of old misconceptions regarding the fuel and the clattery nature of the engines that use it.
Volkswagen is currently the market leader, and has sold more than 47,000 vehicles this year, with 10,000 of them delivered in the month of July alone, marking a whopping 78 percent market share in the sector.
However, VW USA still uses the group’s old-gen diesels, whereas their European models now benefit from all-new, more refined, more powerful, more efficient and cleaner replacements . That won’t be the case for long, though, as an Edumunds report suggests that US V-dubs will also be getting the new EA288 2.0-liter turbocharged unit in the second half of next year.
With a claimed 8 percent efficiency boost over the old-gen units, as well as ten extra horsepower, it should really help VW (and Audi) consolidate the excellent position they already have. Expected to return around 45-46 mpg in the EPA test cycle, the new engine should make its way in the 2015 model-year Jetta, Passat, Golf and Beetle, though; no official statements were quoted in the report.
By Andrei Nedelea
Note: US-bound Golf GTD pictured below – also coming in 2015
PHOTO GALLERY
