We Americans are really ignorant when it comes to diesel. The diesel cars of the 80's get blamed but I believe most people never knew about the 80's diesels or remember them. The only diesels on the roads here the last 20 years are big pick ups. Until recently they were loud, stunk and smoked a little.

Yes I know Volkswagon has diesels but it's small number of cars in the big picture.

LOL A population where 20% think that a hydrogen fuel cell vehicles is in their future is a population that has it's head throughly up its tailpipe.

does not sound a like a reliable survey

Just goes to show how little consumers know!

A majority of Americans also believe/believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9-11. Many, including a presidential candidate, don't believe in evolution.

I wouldn't put any stock into any automotive surveys. Time and time again people will say one thing, but when it comes to putting money on the table, they end up buying something else.

I think the automakers already know the answer about the diesel market trends. There is no profit in offering diesel as a fuel-saver for passenger cars. VW may want to keep that diesel niche, but all other companies are only offering diesels for trucks and as a gimmick for luxury brands.

I think this kind of survey is meaningless. Put diesels in showrooms that give consumers significantly better fuel efficiency at very little (or no) additional up-front cost, and these attitudes will turn around in record time.

See that. It's me, laughing at all the uniformed sitting in line at the gas station. 733 miles on my last tank. Idiots!

Sorry for the rudeness, but I have been telling anyone who will listen about TDI's for a decade.

By the way, Dino is less than midgrade here and I buy Bio for $2.25 a gallon.

I agree , here in Italy , the petrol car seems to be becoming a rarity
with diesel outselling 3 to 1 , and we are paying for it , go down into
the town centre at 8 on a cold morning and the air is foul , all the
kids waiting for the school bus are getting a liberal dose of nano-particles
deep down in their still- forming lungs , God only knows what their
health is going to be like into their adulthood .
My local mechanic told me the other day that he had been warned
whilst on an in- house BOSCH training course , that under no circumstances
where they to carry out repairs on modern common-rail diesels in
an enclosed space without extraction equipment , the reason given was
that the particles from this type of car had been linked to the formation
of lung tumours .
I think this proves that the industry is aware of the problems
associated with diesel emissions , so way are they so eager to push this
technology out in the States , it could end up as expensive in the long
haul as the tobacco problem !

I think the best use of market research is to adjust and improve existing products in consumers' hands. But when you use it on a nonspecific, theoretical diesel car which you can't buy and no one's neighbor owns, you just mirror the general fact that the broad mass of consumers will always resist new things. No one wants to take a risk being the nerd with the weird-o-mobile in the corner.

Executives have a duty to themselves not to defer their leadership and hide cowardice and inaction behind this kind of data. It must be expected. Consumer tastes aren't carved in stone, they change with time. For any serious innovation, it takes the handful of daring consumers with cash, the early adopters, to lead the way for everyone else. If the concept, implementation and marketing are right, people will follow along because your car is better than the alternatives. In this case, the high oil prices are an opportunity to drive it along nicely, and that reduces the risk.

As someone who owns and drives diesels daily, I can honestly say that I would love to have more diesel options going forward. If we lived in or near the city, we would consider the Prius but, driving mostly highway miles, the advantage clearly goes to the diesel IMO. Not only do we get 20-30% better fuel mileage but, the retained resale value for the diesel is quite substantial, about 5k more than a comparable gasser on our VW, several times more than the initial diesel premium at purchase.

I agree that the best solution would be to drastically cut ICE use but, the question is how. Most people are not going to be willing to make the changes necessary until the need becomes much more obvious. In the meantime, baby steps will have to do.

No, the prices I quoted are for exactly the same car, only different engines. For other brands I have observed the same difference between diesel and gasoline.

An afterthought: we must of course consider where the prices of a car are determined, and this is not in the manufacturing department. It's the marketing department that sets the prices.

The same applies to the hybrid/non-hybrid discussion. Most people tend to think that the fact that hybrids cost x $$$/€€€ more than non-hybrids is caused by the differences in manufacturing costs. This is dangerous to conclude. Hybrids are trendy/hyped, and can be sold at a higher margin. The actual difference in cost is not reflected in the price.