More diesels on the road

A diesel advocacy group reported a significant increase in diesel cars, trucks and SUV's on U.S. roads. The 80 percent rise of diesel vehicles between 2000 and 2005 is partially attributed to the larger number of diesel vehicles on offer. In 2000, only 12 diesel passenger vehicles were available in the U.S. market, while 22 were available in 2005. It's interesting to note that consumers, when given the choice between a gasoline and a diesel engine, chose the diesel engine in 45% of the purchases. The trend was most noticeable for heavy-duty pickups, where 63% of buyers chose the diesel option in 2005, up from 54% in 2000. The overall percentage of diesel engines in the U.S. market grew from 2.3 to 3.6 percent. The U.S. could stop importing oil from Saudi Arabia if one third of U.S. cars, trucks and SUV's switched to diesel engines.
[Source: www.dieselforum.org]