General Motors looks to be the only mainstream automaker right now who doesn’t like Volkswagen taking basically all of the diesel car sales in the U.S.
The company’s vice president of global powertrain, Steve Kiefer, said Tuesday that the Chevrolet Cruze Diesel – the company’s only diesel-powered passenger car in the U.S. – “will be the first of many,” diesel GM cars sold here, according to Automotive News.
Kiefer said diesels will show up “as appropriate and as the market accepts them.”
For 2016, the new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon mid-size pickups will get a 2.8-liter turbodiesel. But GM is reportedly keeping the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel in its sights as makers of full-size pickups race to boost fuel economy figures.
Nissan is already going to get a Cummins V8 diesel in its next-generation Titan, due next year. And it’s been showing off a proposal for a diesel Frontier pickup.
But GM might also be looking at VW and their line of TDI diesels, which accounted for almost a quarter of their U.S. sales last year and have pretty high take rates on mainstream models like the Jetta and Passat.
Last year, Chevrolet dealers sold about 3,000 Cruze Diesels, according to Green Car Reports. However, the diesel-powered Cruze went on sale in May 2013 and was only available in certain markets until the end of the year.
By Zac Estrada
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