[urq] Future Audi : is there a TDI planned ?

[Louis-Alain Richard]

The problem with diesel these days is an economic one : the return on
investment is not always there. Plainly, if it's the money that drives you,
buy a similarly sized cheap Korean car with a gas engine, and the overall
cost with be the lowest. That's that simple.

So now, diesel must be sold as an improvement over the base engine, not just
for efficiency but for torque and driving pleasure. In general, people that
test the new generation of diesel engines are always very surprised how
refined they are. It has the added bonus of being "light-green" compare to
gas engine, not as green as the hybrid or the electric. So it may please the
enviro-conscious, the one that won't necessarily go for the lowest fuel
consumption but still don't want to waste unnecessary fuel. High end cars
are more prone to attract these people because they can show everyone how
reasonable they are driving that ML or Touareg but with a Diesel.

For me too, an A4 or A6 Avant with a manual, TDI and Quattro would be a
dream car.

Louis-Alain




-----Message d'origine-----

Dan,
I agree with you wholeheartedly.  This may be speculation, but the General's
debacle with their "development" of a diesel engine back in the late 70's
early 80's, probably contributed to the fact that American's simply do not
like diesels.

Danton