Canadian consumers have caught on – diesel cars aren’t the smelly, smoke-belching monsters that they were decades ago. Today’s diesel engines are clean-burning, high performance mileage-makers that are finding an eager group of buyers here in Canada. And not just in trucks. Long reserved for hauling and towing, consumers are finding that diesel engines are a great source of power in people movers.
German manufacturers make the best-known diesel passenger cars in the world. Mercedes-Benz has a number of models available in Canada using their proprietary BlueTEC diesels, BMW offers the 328d, and Audi has a number of diesel engines available across their platforms, with some talk of a diesel power plant being available for every one of their models before too many years pass.
Volkswagen has done considerable work to place themselves in the enviable position of being the diesel manufacturer for the people. Their TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection) engines are available across their line-up, and may be the single biggest factor in widespread acceptance of diesel cars in North America, offering smooth performance and staggeringly good mileage numbers.
Following the German manufacturers into the Canadian market, Mazda will be bringing the Skyactiv-d sedan to dealerships later this year, in an effort to compete with Toyota, Honda, and other imports in the mileage wars. These other manufacturers have invested heavily in hybrids, and Mazda thinks that diesel technology might give them an edge with consumers, offering mileage numbers that approach the hybrid class with less of a price premium.
The lone homegrown diesel sedan will remain the Chevrolet Cruze, which gets the best highway fuel efficiency numbers of any 2014 diesel or gasoline powered car in Canada. The Cruze has proven to be a sales juggernaut for the company in its 4-cylinder gasoline incarnation, the diesel model is expected to be very well received.
At IAmDiesel, we consider the recent rise of diesel popularity to be great news. We love diesels of all shapes and sizes.