Honda Reverses Course, Embraces Hybrids Over Diesels

Plans for building & selling a Honda Accord diesel variant that would deliver 52 mpg on the highway are now dead. Instead, Honda will focus on modifying its hybrid technology to power medium and large passenger vehicles.

Diesel technology is far from dead, but building a diesel powerplant to meet increasingly tougher US emission restrictions is becoming far less cost efficient than utilizing other technologies. For Honda, who announced in October 2007, that a 52 mpg diesel Accord was on its way to the US, the Japanese automaker has reversed course deciding to embrace hybrid technology instead.

That move is a blow to diesel enthusiasts who prefer an engine that offers improved torque and fuel economy never mind removing the need for tune ups. Had the Accord been introduced to the US as planned, it would have offered class leading fuel economy, even well above the 41 mpg (city) Ford Fusion Hybrid, the current leader in the midsize car segment.

Bending To EPA Pressure

But, offering a diesel in Europe and Japan isn’t the same as selling it in the US, where the Environmental Protection Agency holds full sway when it comes to regulating emissions output. Ever tightening restrictions put an increasingly heavier cost burden on developing diesel powerplants for the US market, costs that Honda isn’t willing to assume according to a recent article in the Automotive News.

Honda says that it will now modify its current hybrid technology, found in the Insight and select Civic models, to drive medium and large cars. In addition to Ford’s Fusion and Mercury Milan, the Toyota Camry and Chevrolet Malibu are some of the other midsize sedans currently offering hybrid technology. A few years back, Honda had a hybrid Accord on the market, but its expensive trim level and fair fuel economy (28 mpg city, 35 mpg highway) worked against its success.

Limited Diesel Availability

Diesel technology is likely to find limited usage in the US via select German manufacturers including Volkswagen and Mercedes as well as being a powerplant of choice for select large pickup trucks including the Dodge Ram.

Beyond that, the costs for modifying existing diesel technology for the US market will likely stunt this segment’s growth, leading to additional hybrid and pure electric models being developed and sold instead cars like the Chevy Volt, a plugin electric hybrid Nissan as well as proposed new models from Toyota, Ford, Hyundai and Chrysler.

Photo Credit: American Honda Motor Company, Inc.