This year, General Motors dealers in Canada will begin selling their first diesel engined passenger car since the Chevrolet Chevette in 1986. Although Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have been long time proponents of diesel vehicles in this country and have built up a loyal customer base, the Chevrolet Cruze Diesel represents a significant milestone, namely the return of a truly mass-market oil burning vehicle in a generation. Although advances in technology have seen that today’s diesels are a far cry from their counterparts of the late 1970s and early 1980s, for many consumers, the stigma of GM’s experiment with Oldsmobile’s slow, smoky and unreliable gasoline derived diesel V8 lives on.
Nevertheless, GM is betting that the Cruze Diesel will win over a new kind of buyer, one that values frugality and fuel economy, and if Chevrolet dealers are able to entice more than a few Jetta TDI owners away from Volkswagen showrooms and into their own stores, so much the better.
GM is aggressively marketing the Cruze Diesel — yesterday, it released a fuel economy figure of 4.2 L/100 km in highway driving and a base price of $24,495, plus a $1,550 destination charge. This compares with an EnerGuide highway fuel consumption rating of 4.7L/100 km and a MSRP of $27,290 for a 2013 Jetta Highline TDI, currently the best-selling diesel car in Canada.
“The Cruze Diesel is the best diesel passenger car out there,” said vehicle program chief engineer Gary Altman, “Chevrolet is redefining the meaning of great fuel economy with this car.”
That’s confident talk but if fuel prices continue to rise and Canadians continue to consider fuel economy as one of their biggest priorities when shopping for new cars, there’s every chance that the Cruze Diesel could be a game changer and a significant profit centre for dealers, providing consumers with a truly affordable alternative to other highly fuel-efficient cars on the market, such as hybrids, as well as finally laying old ghosts to rest.
