Friday, December 23, 2005

Goodbye Diesel

Text from Leftlane News.
RUMOR: New U.S. emissions regulations affecting 2007 model year vehicles may force companies like Volkswagen to stop offering cars with TDI in the United States. Leftlane News has received a handful of reports from VW dealers in the U.S. regarding this rumor, with each source reporting virtually the same thing. While it’s possible automakers will find a way to meet the new regulations before it begins building MY2007 cars, the current thinking is that there is no economical way of building cars to comply with the new rules.. The problem is not limited to VW, but likely any maker of diesel passenger cars. Some manufacturers will be able to circumvent the new rules by classifying their vehicles as “trucks,” but this loophole would only be applicable to borderline crossover vehicles. Accordingly, diesel variants of vehicles like the Audi Q7 are likely to be eligible for sales in the U.S. in 2007.