Possible winner of Dieselgate? Chevrolet.

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce)
09/22/2015 at 18:56 • Filed to: None

Chevrolet Cruze TDI. It is much more expensive than the VW Jetta TDIs but with Dieselgate revealing why, it is possible that the cruze could be the cheapest TDI car in America. No manual option, and it isn’t “as good as” the jetta, but perhaps Chevy could combo the bad publicity against VW with some good marketing and reclaim market share.

Also, this is why dieselgate is hitting so hard - CHevrolet was up against a wall to begin with by making this car since VW was always able to make theirs for less thanks to gaming the emissions testing. Some well timed rebates and discounts could put chevy in an oddly successful spot. Let’s see how this unfolds.

DISCUSSION (23)

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 19:00

fourvalleys > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 19:01

Why are so many people assuming that this is going to make US car buyers want a diesel more ?

The only thing the general public is going to hear is “diesel” and “40 times the legal limit for pollution.”

Well, that and “Volkswagen.” I predict that both diesel sales and VW sales are headed south. Especially VW diesels.

e: Changed the wording.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 19:04

Kinja'd!!!

This is a very bold claim that many European only models would say isn’t true.

HammerheadFistpunch > fourvalleys
09/22/2015 at 19:20

probably the same reason people are assuming this will sour Americans on Diesel forever. Its the age of the recall and the corporate scandal...this will all just be dust in the wind in 10 years time. who even remembers unintended acceleration?

HammerheadFistpunch > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
09/22/2015 at 19:21

probably a good reason that the claim is for US sold cars then.

fourvalleys > HammerheadFistpunch
09/22/2015 at 19:28

I’m not saying in ten years’ time, though. This post is about the 2016 Chevy Cruze. I don’t think VW’s situation is going to help sales of any diesel car in the US in 2015-2016.

Scary__goongala! > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 19:29

I don’t see it increasin sales. I feel like people who want a diesel jetta... get a diesel jetta. I don’t see them as equal substitutes

HammerheadFistpunch > fourvalleys
09/22/2015 at 19:32

Possibly, but outside of vw passenger car diesel was always a niche product. The cruze diesel doesn’t sell well because it’s a cruze

fourvalleys > HammerheadFistpunch
09/22/2015 at 19:37

Indeed. The original post implies that this will boost its sales. I doubt that very much.

dogisbadob > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 19:50

They need to offer it on lower lines, not just the top LTZ model.

BigBlock440 > fourvalleys
09/22/2015 at 20:43

I know people who have bought VWs solely because they were the only diesel car available. Those people looking for a diesel car right now would buy a Cruze. What kind of volume that turns out to be, probably not a lot, but should still be some.

BigBlock440 > Scary__goongala!
09/22/2015 at 20:45

I know people who got the diesel Jetta because of the diesel part, not the Jetta part. It was the only game in town outside of HD trucks, so VW got their business.

M54B30 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 20:58

Assuming GM isn’t doing the same thing. I wonder if there’s engineers at a bunch of companies going “shit... Are they going to retest them all?”

I doubt anyone cheated it on VW’s level, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they all did it to some degree

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > M54B30
09/22/2015 at 21:13

As I told MAtlas, they might “bend” the rules, but they aren’t breaking them like VW is, I think. Say itcomesout your curze is 1.2x as polluting as it should be. The EPA might do like.... 1,000$ per crue sold, knowing only 10-20,000 Cruze TDIs were sold at most.

M54B30 > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 21:25

That’s what I’m saying - nobody broke the rules on the scale of VW, but nobody sells diesels on the scale of VW. But if the EPA investigates further, i wonder how many other companies (if any) get in trouble.

Which as I write this, i realize the only other diesel car is the Cruze.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > M54B30
09/22/2015 at 21:30

Okay, crazy idea here, what if VW’s breaking of the rules allowed them to sell diesels for cheap to inflate their sales?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > fourvalleys
09/22/2015 at 21:31

This alone won’t do it, but say chevy sold them for the same price as the dirty VW diesel? Now it has the value proposition of the mileage/range without that much added cost.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles
09/22/2015 at 21:32

Thank you for the insightful and well thought out contribution.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > dogisbadob
09/22/2015 at 21:33

COuld help, similar to what VW did with the jetta. My guess is chevy wired it up so they can do diesel cars when they do LTZ trim lines to make it easier to schedule in manufacturing.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 21:33

mmmhm

Chris Kasinskas > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/22/2015 at 21:59

But it’s a crappy Chevy Cruze. No thanks.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > HammerheadFistpunch
09/22/2015 at 22:20

Where’s it say US only?

pip bip - choose Corrour > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/23/2015 at 07:15

needs a manual option.