Mercedes-Benz Might Abandon Diesels In the U.S.

From Road & Track

If there's one automaker that has been a tireless booster of diesel passenger cars in the U.S. market, sticking with them through thick and thin-nearly every model year, for decades-it's Mercedes-Benz. They're arguably part of the brand's heritage in the U.S.; back in the early 1980s, four out of five vehicles Mercedes sold in this country were diesels. So it's a little shocking to hear the automaker is even considering giving up on diesels in the U.S. market.

This past week at the Los Angeles auto show, Matthias Luehrs, vice president of sales and product management at Mercedes-Benz Cars, told Car and Driver that in Europe, customers are still asking for diesels. There, the diesel-model share is down just 1 percent within a growing market-meaning the absolute demand is growing. But in the U.S. and Canada, he conceded, demand for diesels, which the automaker has badged as BlueTec in the recent past, is low and continuing to fall-to the degree that it warrants a reality check. "Here we have to look at that and see if it makes sense as such to offer diesels in the future," said Luers, who called abandoning U.S. diesels entirely "a theoretical option."

"We have not come to a conclusion, but we obviously always develop cars and offer vehicles according to customer demand," Luehrs added. The automaker is seeing decreased U.S. interest in diesels not just for passenger cars but for crossovers, too, he said, so it has launched an analysis to see where-and if-Americans do want diesels. "Obviously we're doing a lot of market research in the U.S.," he said. "We'll expect analysis and results next year."

In the meantime, the automaker is pushing ahead with efforts to get its GLS350d crossover certified for U.S. sales. Then next year-perhaps depending on what the brand sees as demand-models with the new-generation 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine could arrive, according to Luehrs. Mercedes-Benz USA declined to confirm a timeline for those cars.

"We are confident in most of the cases that we will get the diesel certification," said Luehrs. "We're working on that."

Given Mazda's very recent decision to enter the U.S. diesel market next year, with a so-called Skyactiv-D engine available in its 2017 CX-5, not every automaker deems diesels a lost cause. In the interest of choice, we hope Mercedes-Benz sees a future for them stateside.

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