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The Week in Germany: Business and Technology

February 2, 2007

Volkswagen Plans Eco-Offensive in the USA for 2008

Forty miles per gallon in the city, and 60 on the highway – the latest gas-electric hybrid? Think again – it’s the 2008 Jetta bluetec TDI. At a symposium of German auto executives hosted by the German Embassy at the Washington Auto Show last week, a Volkswagen executive said that clean diesel vehicles will be a major part of the company’s plan to increase US market share.

Ambassador Klaus Scharioth opened the symposium on new engine technologies

In 2008 the company will offer a new generation of clean diesel vehicles that meet emission standards for all 50 states, said Reinhold Kopp. In recent years, tough emissions standards in California and a handful of other states that follow California standards (including New York) have presented a hurdle even for Volkswagen’s cleanest diesels. In January, the EPA ratcheted standards up even further, forcing some of Volkswagen’s diesels off the market.

The introduction of low-sulfur diesel fuels in the US last September and innovations in the TDI exhaust systems (developed in cooperation with DaimlerChrysler) means that VW America can make diesel technology the main thrust of its plan to increase its US market share from 1.8 percent to 5 percent by 2012. Meeting the new admissions standards was especially critical to VW’s growth plan, because California and the Northeastern States account for about 40 percent of the company’s U.S. sales.

Diesels represent a small but rapidly growing share of the U.S. auto market, according to Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum, an industry lobbying group. While they still represent only 3.6 percent of total car sales, diesel sales increased 80 percent from 2000 to 2005, with just a few models on the market, Schaeffer said.

Offering 20 to 40 percent improvements in fuel economy and a lower carbon footprint than conventional engines, new diesel technology is garnering positive attention from policymakers as well consumers, even earning a mention in President Bush’s State of the Union address.

Links:

Embassy Symposium Discusses “Engines for the Future” (from Germany.info)

Video and full transcript of the remarks from Kopp and other German auto executives at Environment and Energy TV online

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