Word on the automotive street is that Mercedes-Benz will add to their clean BlueTEC diesel offerings available for sale in the United States over the next few years. I found the article I’ve posted below at CAR AND DRIVER dot com. The Dave Knows Cars blog also has a link to their Mercedes-Benz buyer’s guide… CAR AND DRIVER magazine contacted me last year for a link exchange, some good info there, you can check it out in the”Automotive Links” section at the bottom of the DKC home page.
The article below sheds some light on the upcoming clean diesel offerings from Mercedes-Benz… they they represent great gas mileage from efficient vehicles, a lesson they learned long ago in Europe. In this country we seem to prefer ignoring the future problems we are sure to run into with the disposal of toxic batteries that are expensive to make and even more expensive to throw away after the hybrid they were taken out of is ready to be taken off the road. Electric cars should prove to be interesting… as the coal that we burn to get the electricity isn’t great for the environment either.
The Germans… Audi and Mercedes-Benz in particular… BMW too, look to continue their investment in clean diesel as they hope the U.S. market sees the benefits of the efficient machines they’re engineering.
Here’s the article from CAR AND DRIVER:
Mercedes to Sell Eight Diesels in the U.S. by 2014 Including C-Class, GLK
Those Europeans, they do love their oil burners. And so far they’re really the only ones who’ve made serious attempts at selling diesel powered passenger vehicles stateside.
Mercedes-Benz wants to sell eight diesel-engined models in the U.S. by 2014, according to recent remarks made by Philipp Schiemer, the company’s vice-president for product management. Presently, the Stuttgart-based automaker offers us oil-burners in its E-, M-, GL-, and R-class models, with a diesel S-class on the way. The S350 BlueTec, which is powered by the same 3.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6 that’s in the company’s other American diesel models, will be offered exclusively with 4Matic all-wheel drive when it arrives in showrooms in the fall of 2011.
At the same time, we’re told, U.S. Benz dealers will also begin selling a diesel GLK. Likely wearing GLK250 BlueTec badging, the little crossover will receive the firm’s well-regarded 2.1-liter turbo-diesel four, which makes 204 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque in the European GLK250—those numbers, as well as the ones on the car’s badge, could change slightly in the Americanization process. Still, the prospect of a GLK that could return fuel mileage in the high 30s on the highway while still ripping off a mid-seven-second 0-to-60-mph time is enticing.
We’ll also be seeing a lightly face-lifted 2012 Mercedes C-class at dealers in September, but it will be at least another year until shoppers can opt for an oil-burning powerplant underhood. The diesel sedan would arrive sooner, but Mercedes is still trying to keep up with strong worldwide demand for its four-cylinder diesels in markets where those engines are an absolute necessity for sales. When it does hit our shores, we suspect it’ll do quite well. Although sales of BMW’s oil-burning 335d have been slow as a result of its high sticker price, modest fuel economy, and superfluous torque, the four-cylinder diesel in the C-class should steer clear of most, if not all, of those issues.
If you’re keeping count, adding the S-, C-, and GLK-classes to the diesel mix adds up to only seven models. When asked about where that eighth diesel will end up, a Mercedes spokesperson coyly tells us, “there’s a lot of calendar between now and 2014.” We take that to mean vehicle number eight will be a new model, quite possibly one of Mercedes’ planned small front-wheel-drive cars, with the GLC small crossover being the most likely candidate. Either that or a diesel SLS. (We kid.)