Diesels better than hybrids, VW chief says
Gasoline-electric vehicles only provide fuel savings in stop-and-go driving, Pischetsrieder insists.
LOS ANGELES -- Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder challenged the auto industry's emerging penchant for gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, saying diesel cars and trucks are a better way to curb pollution and fuel use.
VW, the largest producer of diesel-powered cars and light trucks, is developing advanced diesel engines and fuels that emit less carbon dioxide and offer better fuel economy than gasoline-electric hybrids.
"Any significant reduction of fuel consumption under all conditions requires diesel technology," Pischetsrieder said in a speech Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show. "Volkswagen is uniquely positioned to lead in this area."
He said hybrids -- which rely on gasoline and electric motors -- only provide meaningful fuel savings when motorists are in stop-and-go driving situations.
"On the highway, they use substantially more fuel than modern diesels, and they cost more to produce," Pischestrieder said
California and some other states are forcing automakers to develop vehicles that emit less pollution. Last year, California accounted for 42 percent of all hybrid sales.
Because of strict pollution rules that limit harmful emissions, such as soot, the sale of diesel-powered vehicles are banned in California, the nation's largest auto market, and in New England.
Demand for hybrids may rise to 3 percent of U.S. auto sales by 2011, up from less than 1 percent now, J.D. Power & Associates estimates.
Diesel passenger vehicles may increase to as much as 15 percent in a decade from about 3 percent now, said Anthony Pratt, an analyst at the Westlake, California-based firm.
Diesel vehicles represent about 10 percent of VW's U.S. sales, Pischetsrieder said. That percentage will grow, he said. "We will promote and advertise diesel engines because we think they are the wave of the future," he said.