DaimlerChrysler sees huge potential for diesel-powered cars in the United States, the world's fifth-biggest automaker said on July 15. "There are great, great opportunities," Thomas Weber, the group's head of research and technology and development head for Mercedes Car Group, told reporters, suggesting US diesel use could one day reach the 50 percent level now seen in Europe.
Weber said diesel motors' performance, durability, and fuel efficiency could win converts from gasoline engines, especially once low-sulphur diesel fuel becomes widely available in the United States as of next year.
Reducing the sulphur content in diesel fuel will allow advanced emission control technology in diesel engines and will substantially improve air quality.
A study released last month by market research group J.D. Power-LMC Automotive Forecasting Services suggested US sales of diesels were set to grow from 3 percent market share in 2004 to 7.5 percent by 2012, given high gasoline prices.
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