Auto Industry Debates Virtues of Diesels vs. Hybrids

Auto Industry Debates Virtues of Diesels vs. Hybrids
(I have included the entire article for those of you without a subscription to the New York Times.)



By DANNY HAKIM

Published: August 5, 2004

RAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 4 - Automakers remain divided on whether diesel or hybrid cars are the best way to improve fuel efficiency, and the split is often drawn along cultural lines.

All the major manufacturers are developing cleaner diesel engines, hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells. But companies are pushing harder on different technologies to get a leg up in meeting regulations that are becoming tougher around the world, and their views were represented in comments made at a management conference here on Wednesday.

Advertisement


Toyota and Honda first developed hybrid-electric vehicles, in part because they save the most gasoline in the sort of stop-and-start driving that is common in the clogged traffic of densely populated Japan.

In a hybrid like the Toyota Prius, an electric motor takes over for the gas engine at low speeds and stops; energy is also preserved that is usually lost in braking.

But automakers in Europe are skeptical about how profitable hybrids can be and prefer diesel-powered vehicles because they offer car owners an alternative to high taxes on gasoline.

Environmental advocates remain cautious about diesels. Compared with conventional gasoline cars, they offer lower emissions of the kind that contribute to global warming but lag behind in emissions of smog-forming pollutants - though filtration technology is improving. New air-quality rules that will be in effect in the United States by the end of the decade will require diesel and gasoline engines to meet the same emission levels.

On Wednesday, Fujio Cho, Toyota's president, said his company would like to sell 300,000 hybrid electric vehicles next year, which would be about 4 percent of its worldwide production.

"It may be difficult for us to produce that many hybrids by that time, but we have another year to go, so we'll make every effort so we can live up to that goal," Mr. Cho said through an interpreter.

Next year, Toyota will sell three hybrids in the United States: its Prius car and hybrid versions of the Highlander and Lexus RX sport utility vehicles.

"We like to think of it as enlightened self-interest," Mr. Cho said. "If automakers don't reduce smog-forming emissions, greenhouse gases and the need for petroleum, I believe we won't be in business."

His comments came a day after Toyota said it would increase production of the Prius to 15,000 a month from 10,000 by early next year. Most of these will be shipped to the United States, where customers have been waiting six months and longer for the new Prius since its design was overhauled last year.

Tom LaSorda, chief operating officer of the Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler, which includes Mercedes, said the company was still researching hybrids and had not settled on an offering beyond a small-volume version of its Ram pickup truck to be introduced in the fourth quarter.

"The other one we're really pushing on, and we think will work, is the diesel," he said. "We're starting to see a lot of responsiveness and positive market response from our dealers and customers out there that would like to drive clean diesels in the United States."

Later this year, Chrysler will start selling a diesel version of the Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicle, the first diesel other than a pickup to be offered by one of Detroit's Big Three automakers in a couple of decades.

"We're very fortunate," Mr. LaSorda said, "that we have Mercedes, one of the best diesel technology companies in the world, leading the way here. So we're just tapping into that."

Even the hybrid Ram will use a diesel engine. It will sell in very small numbers - about 100 will be made for businesses and other fleet customers.

Lawrence A. Denton, chief executive of Dura Automotive Systems, a supplier, urged the industry to work harder to improve fuel efficiency, which has stagnated since the mid-1980's amid booming sales of S.U.V.'s and big pickup trucks.

But he also criticized the toughening air-quality regulations.

"We're overpenalizing diesels," Mr. Denton said, adding, "Clearly, diesels are part of the solution, so you can't penalize them and expect to improve mileage."

Environmental advocates disagree.

"That's misleading," said David Friedman, senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental advocacy group. "You're not penalizing diesels; they're just put in the mix with all the other vehicles."

"If you want diesels to compete in the marketplace," he said, "they need to compete fairly and meet the same level of emission standards."

Environmental advocates prefer hybrid cars. On Wednesday, the Sierra Club issued a statement praising the Ford Motor Company, which is poised to become the world's first automaker to sell a hybrid sport utility vehicle, a version of its Escape S.U.V. The Sierra Club had previously been a persistent critic of Ford's environmental record.

"The hybrid Escape is a rolling advertisement for better technology and a cleaner environment," said David Hamilton, director of the global warming and energy program at the Sierra Club.

But another group was more critical. "If Ford wants to position itself as an environmental leader," said Jennifer Krill of the Rainforest Action Network, "it needs to do more than produce one improved vehicle in limited quantities."

Click here to link to the article.

Jeff