Automaker General Motors (GM) has admitted that it is looking to the diesel market to keep its sales on track over the coming months.

The company has revealed that it expects modest sales in its sports utility vehicle (SUV) division, largely due to the rising price of petrol in the global market.

As the price of petrol begins to recede slightly in the wake of less-than-expected damage caused by Hurricane Rita, SUV sales at GM have shown little sign of picking up as customers begin to turn to the diesel market.

It is the growing popularity of diesel that GM hopes it has been able to tap into, as the company looks to its truck sales in the hope that an improvement in this sector will offset the shortfalls in the SUV market.

The increasing reliance on the diesel market has seen predictions that there may be a boom in diesel in the US as petrol prices remain high.

In Canada, a number of analysts have already suggested to the Canadian Press that North America could soon see a surge in the number of motorists looking to the diesel market in preference to petrol-powered vehicles and those views seem to be borne out by GM's reliance on diesel to boost its profit margins.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd