HEADLINE: Chrysler to Sell Diesel
Jeeps in the U.S.
BYLINE: Bloomberg
News
BODY: The Chrysler unit
of DaimlerChrysler will sell Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicles with diesel
engines in the United States starting in 2004 as it seeks to improve the average
fuel economy of the cars it sells.
The automaker
expects to sell about 5,000 of the Jeeps in the first year it offers the
2.8-liter diesel engine made by DaimlerChrysler's Detroit Diesel Corporation.
The unit provides the engines for European models of the Jeep, known there as
the Cherokee, Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler's chief executive, said at a New York
conference on auto technology.
Chrysler, along with
General Motors and Ford Motor, want diesels, which are about 40 percent more
fuel efficient, to meet American fuel-economy standards
without scaling back sales of more-profitable pickup trucks, sport utility
vehicles and luxury cars. Current diesels do not meet American limits on
smog-causing nitrogen oxides and soot particles that take effect in 2004.
Carmakers are lobbying to get diesel fuel in the United
States that is as clean as in Europe, where it contains only about 50 parts per
million of sulfur. The more sulfur in the fuel, the more the engine pollutes.
American fuel contains an average of 330 parts per million of sulfur, Mr.
Zetsche said. Last year, 0.18 percent of American cars and 2.7 percent of light
trucks were sold with diesel engines, according to WardsAuto.com.
Document 40 of 803. 