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Gold/Mining/Energy : Alternative Fuel Systems ATF:VSE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Stew who wrote (3297)	7/7/1999 11:45:00 PM
From: raisinkane	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 4605

The more diesel vehicles on the road....The more possible natural gas conversions for us.......raisin Europeans Snap Up Diesel Cars Improved Performance and Low Cost of Fuel Spark Demand -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bloomberg News -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LONDON - Demand for diesel engines is surging among car buyers in Europe and will continue to rise, helped by the engines' improved performance and fuel economy, two studies say. Volkswagen AG and PSA Peugeot Citroen SA are the biggest producers of the engines, though other carmakers are scrambling to increase output. Diesel car sales in Western Europe rose by nearly a third in the past five years, to 3.55 million vehicles last year, or 25 percent of all cars sold. Diesel engines typically are 30 percent more fuel efficient than gasoline-powered vehicles and diesel fuel is cheaper than gas in most European countries. New diesel engines from Volkswagen, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and others perform as well as gasoline versions. That means speed-loving Germans can buzz along the autobahn at 225 kilometers (140 miles) an hour. ''1999 has become the year of the diesel,'' said Peter Schmidt, an auto industry consultant with Automotive Industry Data in Warwick, England. He is the author of a report about diesel car sales published last month. Mr. Schmidt estimates diesel sales will rise 33 percent, to 4.74 million vehicles in 2003. That would be one of every three cars sold, compared with one in four now. Volkswagen has about 27 percent of the European diesel car market, followed by Peugeot with about 19 percent. Other carmakers are working to increase production. Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and others have said that they hope to increase their company's market share by offering more diesel engines. Diesel engine production capacity should grow by 1.5 million units in the next six years, according to a another study, published last month by J.D. Power-LMC Automotive Services in Oxford, England. Japanese carmakers, who are well behind the pack, are planning to increase diesel output by 60 percent between 1998 and 2003, the study said. The new engines also are getting cleaner. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------