The New York Times lists the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's 12 greenest vehicles sold in the U.S. Not surprisingly, it's dominated by foreign brands. In fact, the TTAC Ten Worst nominee Ford Focus is the only American nameplate on the list. The Honda Civic GX, which runs on compressed natural gas, sits in the top of the greenest tree. Only four hybrids sent out an aroma of undefined love: Prius, Civic Hybrid, Altima Hybrid and Camry Hybrid. Rounding out the list: smart fortwo, Yaris, Corolla, MINI Cooper, MINI Cooper Clubman, Civic and Fit. Imports also dominated the six "most environmentally damaging vehicles." Four of these were were oil burners: Touareg V-10 TDI (the worst of the worst), Mercedes GL 320 CDI, Grand Cherokee diesel and Mercedes R320 CDI. The Bugatti Veyron and Lambo Murciélago round out the dirty half-dozen. Neither GM's "Green Car of the Year" (Yukon Hybrid) nor the treehugger's four-wheeled enemy #1 (Hummer H2) showed-up at either extreme.

Forbes reports that Peugeot/Citroen is shifting their hybrid diesel strategy. The French automaker planned on developing a mass-market diesel hybrid in partnership with Continental, Bosch, Valeo and Thyssen-Krupp for a 2010 release. To meet its goal of developing a diesel hybrid with a price point of under €2k euros, the €471m project had relied on €100m in loans and subsidies from the French Agency for Industrial Innovation. Amidst competitive concerns raised by the public funding scheme and an eighteen month delay (surprise), P/C abandoned the project altogether– in favor of an in-house premium-line diesel hybrid. P/C says their diesel hybrid won't be available until 2011– which is a lot better than "eventually."

So there's this big deal panel of "independent experts" from the National Research Council that advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) re: federal mpg standards. The last time the Council got together, they deemed diesel engines too dirty and hybrids as "too niche" for inclusion in their final report. Flash forward seven years and the Council finds that diesels could deliver 30 to 40 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over comparable gas engines. This time 'round, full-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles didn't make the cut; "the committee does not expect commercialization of fuel cell vehicles or widespread marketing of all-electric vehicles before 2020." Although Congress insists that regulations must focus on gas engines– as these represent the vast majority of vehicles on the road– the inclusion of diesels in the new report may presage regulations allowing a new era of European-sourced high-efficiency oil burners in the U.S. Provided, that is, California doesn't trump the feds again and tighten their particulate standards, again…

Sorry cubicle dwellers but the truth hurts. D Magazine reports that GM Car Czar Maximum Bob Lutz told a group of journalists that global warming is "a total crock of shit." When pressed on his enthusiasm for the Volt, Maximum Bob explained "I'm motivated more by the desire to replace imported oil than by the CO2 (argument)." Yes but– MB wasn't so keen on on other automotive technologies aimed at diminishing our demand for foreign petrochemicals. Even though GM is touting their big, honkin' hybrid SUVs and hybrid-lite cars and spending multi-millions on a hybrid research center in China, he thinks hybrids "make no economic sense." GM's Vice Chairman of Global Product Development also stated diesel cars have no place in a market where gas and diesel prices are comparable (i.e. in the U.S.). And just to show solidarity with GM dealers facing GM's sliding market share and the current economic downturn, Maximum Bob said "they've got to isolate themselves from the economic forecasts and say, 'I make my own prosperity.'" Sounds like TTAC's leading candidate for our soon-to-be-announced Bob Lutz award may have been sniffing too much JP-8 or whatever imported-oil-based petrochemical he burns in his jets.

If you were 20 when GM equipped the Cadillac Seville with a 105hp 5.7-liter LF9 diesel engine– a powerplant whose feeble power, clattering noise, belching smoke, mechanical unreliability and brand defilement made oil burners about as fashionable as AM stereo– you'd be 43 now. So… I guess there's still a mountain for the marketing men to climb. Kelley Blue Book confirms this suspicion. In a January survey of an unspecified number of in-market car buyers, nearly half said diesels are "dirty and noisy." What's worse, "shoppers increasingly believe that diesel-powered vehicles get poorer fuel mileage than conventional gasoline engines, and fewer consumers are seeing diesels as fuel-efficient." That's right, diesel's appeal is actually declining amongst car buyers. Meanwhile, hybrids are ascendant, with 61 percent of shoppers claiming an interest in buying a car with a gas – electric engine. "When asked about the premium they are willing to pay for a gas/electric hybrid over a traditional gasoline-powered version of the same vehicle, this month shoppers are willing to pay an average premium of $3,135, up from an average premium of $2,645 a month ago in December 2007." Can any automaker break the American diesel curse? If they do, it's going to be a long, tough job. 

After showing an oil-burning concept car last year, Subaru has just debuted their European-spec diesel engine. Significance is twofold. First, until this point, Subaru hasn't offered a diesel engine. Oil burners account for 40 percent of the European new car market; Subie's diesel deficit has seriously retarded their progress into the Eurozone. Second, this ain't no regular four-pot diesel. It's a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-four that churns-out 148 horses and 258 ft.-lbs.of twist (from 1800 rpm.) Yup, you heard right: it's a flat-four; the same horizontally opposed Boxer layout Subaru sells in gas-powered form. As horizontally opposed engines have better balance than their inline counterparts, a Subaru diesel could be smoother and quieter than an in-line oil burner. In the Legacy wagon, it should get about 41 U.S. miles per gallon and chug from zero to sixty mph in roughly 8.5 seconds. Reviews are trickling in: AutoExpress, Car magazine and Fifth Gear . So far, so good. Will the Subie diesel clean-up its act to California compliance and come to the States? The answer of the week (via Autobloggreen) is yes. But with a projected date of 2010, there's still plenty of time for Subaru to cancel, confirm, cancel, confirm…

Speaking to Automotive News [sub] at the North American International Auto Show, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui revealed that the company's Acura brand will receive the automaker's first California-compliant diesel engines sometime next year. It's a bit of an odd choice, given Acura's lackluster sales, lackluster brand image and lackluster luxury flagship (which TTAC and others have slated for lacking a lustrous V8). And if that isn't enough of a marketing conundrum, Fukui also said Acura's first oil burners will only sport four cylinders. Honda's V6 clean diesel– which also "generates and stores ammonia within a two-layer catalytic converter to turn nitrogen oxide into harmless nitrogen"– won't appear until 2010. Meanwhile and in any case, Fukui is keeping his eye on the bottom line. "Our diesel cars are going to have an appropriate level of profit from the start," he said, intimating that all that high tech hybrid stuff takes ages to pay off. Which it does. Of course, it helps if you get the branding right…

Those of you who were hoping (and hoping and hoping) that Chrysler would lead America into a Euro-style clean diesel high mileage BIG torque paradise, fuhgeddaboutit. TTAC reporter Bill Montgomery caught-up with ex-Toyota exec and current Chrysler Prez Jim Press and asked him wither oil burners? Yup. "In the face of the new federal fuel economy standards, being a responsible corporate citizen means very soon everything will be hybrid." When pressed, Press went further, hinting that there's been a massive strategy shift within the Crisis Corporation. "As a privately owned company, we're quicker than the competition at reallocating resources." Does this new focus explain the hard stop to Getrag's $530m Chrysler transmission factory? Press' PR handler whisked the exec away before Bill could get the inside dope. So to speak. 

Click here for more TTAC pictures of Jim Press' meet the press

[Reported by William C. Montgomery] 

WardsAuto reports that BMW will reveal the U.S.-bound diesel-powered X5 xDrive 35d cross/utility vehicle and 335d coupe at the upcoming (TTAC-attended,) North American International Auto Show. The big news here is that Bimmer's boffins have designed a urea-injection exhaust treatment to capture those nasty particulates before they can weld themselves onto the inner surface of your lungs. In other words, BMW's "BluePerformance" technology meets California's way-tougher-than-European-Union-regs diesel engine emissions requirements. Yada yada yada. Here are the stats oil burner aspiring pistonheads want to know. The 3.0-liter inline six cylinder. twin-turbo diesel engine develops 265 hp and, get this, 425 lb.-ft. of torque. That's enough to sling the big ass X5 xDrive 35d from 0-62 mph in 7.2 seconds, and power the 335d from 0-62 mph in a respectable 6.2 seconds. Of course, the sprint time doesn't reflect the ENORMOUS in-gear shove. Perhaps more saliently, the diesel X5 gets 19/25 mpg, while the 335d clocks in at 23/33 mpg. Do you have to pee in the urea tank? And is this the long anticipated re-start of America's oil burning aspirations? That depends on the price. Hey, there's got to be some surprises left for the show.

The Detroit News reports the new fuel mileage bill will have one side effect that should make some truck buyers happy: all three Detroit automakers are planning a diesel option for their light-duty pickups. Long restricted to heavier-duty applications, oil-burners provide the mileage the manufacturers will need to meet the new fleet-wide 35 mpg standard. Dodge will shoehorn a diesel into the Ram 1500 just after the 2009 model year. Ford plans diesels for "future generations" of the F-150. And GM is developing a V-8 diesel for the Silverado 1500 that could replace any small-block V8 in its lineup. Just think– if things keep heading in Rudolph's direction, a diesel Impala could displace the Crown Vic as the taxi of choice. That is, if GM has finally exorcised the ghosts of their 1980's V8 diesel debacle.

Volkswagen releases gas in the general direction of CAFE standards! CEO Martin Winterkorn has confirmed the company is working on an ultra-high-mileage car that will get 235 mpg, according to Greencar.com. The VeeDub hypermiler is a tandem two-seater with a Cd of 0.159 and an estimated range of 400 miles on its 1.7 gallon fuel tank. The engine is a single cylinder diesel displacing 300 – 500cc, attached to a six-speed DSG transmission. Thanks to lightweight materials like carbon fiber, magnesium and lightweight alloys, the entire vehicle weighs in at 639 pounds. VW says a limited production version could be offered by 2010. Unless VW hacks Tesla's "customer" list, the chances are the complete vehicle won't make it to market. But look for a carbon fiber wing mirror on the next GTI.

Schmaltz: it's not just for matzo balls any more. Consurmeraffairs.com reports that researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a method of converting chicken fat into biodiesel, with a yield in excess of 89 percent. Most biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils. With the exception of home-brewed biodiesel made from used fast food fry oil, vegetable oils are more expensive to produce than petro-diesel because of the high cost of farm production (including petro-chemical based fertilizers). The new process converts chicken fat, a byproduct of Arkansas' thriving poultry industry, into biodiesel in one step, using methanol under high temperatures and pressures. So far there's no talk of turning it into a commercial process, but it may not be too long before your exhaust smells more like your Bubbe's kitchen than a truck stop. 

Navistar is acquiring GM's medium-duty truck line. Navistar subsidiary International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) has formed a $90m joint venture with Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to build diesel engines for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Put it all together and you have a ready-made source of medium-duty diesel trucks that fit into Manindra International's global expansion plans AND a way for Mahindra to get name recognition in the U.S. truck market. You heard it here (via India Times) first: it's only a matter of time before we see Mahindra's light-duty trucks and its other commercial vehicles sold stateside under the M&M or Navistar/International brands. Meanwhile, the Times also reports that M&M have pulled-out of negotiations for Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands. While we have studiously avoided reporting all the baseless conjecture surrounding the British brands' disposal, you gotta love the unavoidable logic of this explanation:"'The whole deal was considered to be very complex, prompting the company not to pursue it,' a source said." 

CNNMoney's caught diesel fever, echoing "experts" predicting sales of oil burners stateside are set to rise by 300 percent over the next ten years. That's "partly because diesel engines generally deliver anywhere from 20 to 40 percent better fuel economy than gasoline-powered engines, depending on the vehicle and engine size." While we're impressed by the assertion's qualifier count, and wonder what the other part of "partly" might be (it can't be diesel engines' higher production costs), the real mystery is how CNN could write such a blatantly pro-diesel piece without once mentioning the word "particulates." Or comparing European diesel tailpipe regs to California's (which sets the U.S. standard). Instead, we get the happy-clappies from Patrik Borenius, manager of advanced product planning for Mercedes. "The new clean-diesel engines provide three key benefits," Borenius opined. "It's a more fuel-efficient technology, so the customer gets better gas mileage; it offers environmental benefits by producing less carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses, and it's one of the answers to the energy issue, in terms of reducing our dependence on foreign oil." So where are these Mercedes' clean diesels? Again, talk to California. And what of Honda's new clean diesel engine that meets the CA standards? Nothing. 

Duemotori.com reports Jeep is racking up the awards in Europe. Earlier this year, the entire Jeep lineup won the 2007 Green 4×4 Award from 4×4 & MPV Driver Magazine. Now the same magazine has named the Patriot 2.0 CRD Sport as their 4×4 of the Year. In announcing the win, the magazine's editor, Bob Murry, states "The Patriot is a cracking car to drive… It adds a welcome dash of adventure and US style to a sometimes bland SUV market. At last you can have your American pie, and eat it, too!" That's not too bad for a vehicle that started life as a Dodge Caliber and has only sold 800 units this year. Interestingly, even though it's available with a 2.4L petrol engine it's only the highly-equipped CRD (diesel) Sport version that received the 4×4 of the year award.