High-tech petrol engines stall sales of passenger diesels

Developing technology is bringing the efficiency of petrol engines closer to that of diesels – and car buyers in New Zealand are taking note. They are not buying as many diesel passenger sedans and hatchbacks as they once did. European distributors especially have noticed the move away from diesel. Although it is slight, it is definitely trending that way, they say. It is showing up in the sales of sports utility vehicles too. Once, diesel engines were under the bonnets of three out of four SUVs, but the growth of smaller petrol-powered SUVs has started pharmacy to change the mix. It has changed it in Europe too. Sales of diesel engines have fallen behind petrol engines for the first time in decades. In the 1980s and ‘90s, diesel had upwards of 60 per cent of the European market. In canada online pharmacy 2013, it had 45.8 per cent. Last year it fell to 44.9 per cent. France recently said it would work towards a ban on diesel vehicles because of pollution risks. Sales of diesel passenger sedans and hatchbacks in New Zealand last year were down by around 750 units on 2013. Bigger diesel SUVs stayed strong, up around 400 on 2013. But petrol SUVs soared by almost 6000 registrations, thanks largely to the more compact models and technology that allows petrol engines to deliver the torque characteristics of diesels.

Ford is one carmaker watching the trend. “We sold more EcoBoost (turbocharged petrol) engines than we did diesel engines globally last year, which was a big milestone for us,” said Joe Bakaj, vice president of product development. He told reporters at the Geneva motor show: “This year we’ll be selling well over one million EcoBoost engines globally. There is still a lot of development potential left when it comes to efficiency for EcoBoost.” “We’re a long way from seeing the end of the line on conventional technology. We are going to see for the next 10 years continued development on traditional petrol and diesel,” Bakaj said. Taking centre stage at Geneva is Ford’s four-cylinder 2.3-litre Ecoboost thyroid medication canadian pharmacy engine. It powers two upcoming performance cars, the entry-level rear-drive Mustang (in NZ later this year) and (top of page) the all-wheel-drive RS Focus (late next year). It has been tuned to generate 233kW/434Nm in the Mustang. But it gets a twin-scroll booster and larger intercooler in the RS Focus that, Ford says, will help to deliver ‘more than 235kW.’ Ford is keeping to itself for the time being the exact power and torque figures. The five-door RS will be pitched against flyers like the Volkswagen Golf R, Audi RS3 and Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, although it is expected to be priced . Like the three Germans the RS was designed on an all-wheel-drive platform for optimum traction. Ford says the hatchback’s four-paw system comes with a host of new innovations for the brand, including a ‘drift’ function that allows up to 70 per cent of power to be sent to the rear wheels, with as much as 100 per cent of torque viagra pills sent to one individual wheel. “This way,” Ford global vehicle development executive Raj Nair told reporters, “you get great steering response but incredible pull out of the corner – and we can use the torque vectoring to keep the car safe and stable all the way through a bend.” Another innovation is the low weight of the all-wheel drive transmission, said to add only around 20kg to the car – a similar weight penalty to that which the now-redundant RevoKnuckle front suspension set-up added on the last-generation RS.