Improving 'regular' diesel rather than boosting price for 'Premium' is key to light-duty success

Diesel Fuel News, Sept 29, 2003

Improving 'Regular' Diesel Rather Than Boosting Price For 'Premium' Is Key To Light-Duty Success: Automakers considering opportunities for light-duty diesel sales in the U.S. want higher cetane and good cold-weather operability characteristics in all diesel fuel, not just "premium" diesel. Such improvements wouldn't cost refiners a lot, but marketers trying to push a high-priced "premium" diesel at 20 cents/gallon over "regular" diesel or gasoline "could be the thing that kills broad introduction of diesels," General Motors fuels/environmental expert Gary Herwick pointed out at Hart World Fuels Conference.

"If you need a premium diesel for Tier 2 then I just wonder about the market acceptability" for diesel cars/SUVs/light trucks, he added. Light-duty diesel in the U.S. is "a new, fragile and unknown market," added Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers fuels-issues specialist Ellen Shapiro. "But there are numerous benefits for all stakeholders, including the oil industry. Generally, [U.S. diesel fuel] quality is pretty poor. The National Conference of Weights & Measures 'premium' is a step forward from before but not a whole lot different from regular diesel" as defined by American Society for Testing & Materials, she said.