The newly-announced fuel economy standards for vehicles sold in the US will drive the development of cleaner diesel engines, it is claimed.

Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, believes diesel cars, light trucks and SUVs will play a key role in achieving the new targets.

It comes after President Barack Obama announced a new deal with automakers that will see vehicles deliver an average fuel efficiency of 54.5 miles per gallon across fleets.

"Meeting these challenging new fuel efficiency targets will require many different technology solutions and we're more confident than ever that clean diesel technology is going to be one of those solutions," commented Mr Schaeffer.

Already consumers in the US are more aware of the benefits of diesel engine vehicles, with sales up 34 per cent year-on-year in May.

Mr Schaeffer noted that consumers can choose from 16 different clean diesel engine vehicles in the US, with new models are on their way.

The Chevrolet Cruze will be available in 2013, while Mazda also announced that its SKY-D clean diesel engine will be on sale in the 2013.

"Clean diesel engines will allow manufacturers to continue to provide consumers with the full range of vehicles they want, from fuel efficient family sedans and crossover SUVs, to full size pickup trucks," Mr Schaeffer added.

He is confident that the new fuel efficiency targets will create a major shift away from petrol in the US market, where currently only three per cent of vehicles are diesel.

In March 2011, hybrid and clean diesel cars both experienced a 46 percent increase in sales compared to the same month in 2010, according to Baum and Associates.

By 2015, the firm expects diesel car sales to grow to between six and 6.5 per cent of the entire market.

Research firm J.D. Power & Associates predicts the US diesel market share at 3.1 percent in 2011, and growing steadily to 7.4 percent by 2017.

Source:

EPA's New Higher Fuel Economy Standards Expected to Increase Clean Diesel Car & Truck Choices for U.S. Consumers (29/07/11)

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