Many automakers have been holding off on bringing their diesel-powered models to the U.S. because the numbers simply didn’t crunch in their favor. That’s because automakers have to make expensive modifications or pay per-vehicle fees to clean up their diesel emissions or get a pass to bring them Stateside.
Volkswagen, for instance, who’s sold its diesel-powered TDI models in the U.S. for years has had to pay near $700 per TDI vehicle imported into the U.S., as they didn’t meet our stringent emissions standards.
The European Union recently updated its emissions regulations, requiring a drastic drop in nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission for 2014, which put it in earshot of that of the U.S. This means automakers will likely peg their new emissions standards to the U.S., overshooting the EU but allowing for entry into the American market.
The next automaker keen to make the diesel jump Stateside is Land Rover with a diesel hybrid of both its Range Rover and Range Rover Sport models. The diesel hybrids will first debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September and will go on sale in North America sometime in the next few years, according to Edmunds.
We hope that Land Rover will also introduce its non-hybrid diesels to the U.S. as well. Most Land Rovers sold in Europe are powered by either a V6 or V8 diesel engine. That 4.4-liter diesel V8, ironically, is a Ford-designed motor that’s built in Chihuahua, Mexico.
We don’t know about you but we’d love to have Range Rover that gets 26mpg rather than the 13mpg they get now.
