Sources (i.e., email tips and a Tweet from Ward’s Auto) are telling us that General Motors Vice Chairman Tom Stephens told attendees at the Directions in Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research (DEER) conference in Detroit today that a diesel-engined passenger car is coming to the U.S. sometime in the future. Nothing has been officially decided, but Stephens indicated that GM has a portfolio of diesels to draw from, noting that it’s up to the marketing department to define what engine and platform might be used, let alone what brand it would be marketed under. What might we see? Maybe something along the line of a GM Jetta?
GM has been talking up diesels in the U.S. for years, but oil-burning powertrains haven’t gotten quite the attention of the plug-in Voltec in the forthcoming Chevrolet Volt. Now that the cat is at least poking its head out of the bag, we wonder if the German automakers, who are having a bit of success with oil-burning powerplants here, are worried. Unlikely, but at least we could get more options – and would it kill GM to make the new car officially B100-capable from the start?