I am very encouraged by what................

[NEexpat]

I am very encouraged by what I have been seeing of late.

Car AD's for Diesels! And lots of them.

Mind you they are higher end Audi's and Beemers's, still.

I hope it's just a matter of time before we start to see this trend move down to mid -priced and then perhaps a couple of subs.

I had the opportunity to drive a Benz Diesel SUV quite a bit, in all kinds of weather, pushing 10 inches of snow off it, getting in turning the key and voila' no problems whatsoever. The technology is well past all that now, has been for a while.

We didn't garage it or plug it in at night or throw a warming blanket over the engine to keep it warm etc. Never an issue in the winter. We got mid to high 20's mpg's mostly highway.

So why not a larger segment of diesels here in the states? It can't be an emissions thing the EU wouldn't let all those diesels run about if it were. And our standards are not theirs. So what is it? Is it a marketing issue, I would think the mileage aspect could blunt any aversion to "diesels". That and a pair of gloves at the pump.