@ Detroit > Toyota Subtly Puts Down DCX

Filed in archive on January 9, 2007

According to MotorAuthority, a Toyota spokesman was quoted as suggesting that in order to make a diesel vehicle cost effective, the company would have to spend much too much money in designing sophisticated filters to allow an oil burning model to pass stringent emissions (i.e. California) thereby driving up the vehicle's MSRP.

This seems like code for the following:

1) We're king of the hybrids, layman of the diesels - we're playing to our strengths now (and why not?)

2) DaimlerChrysler is dressing up old methods with expensive new filter systems that do not address the petrol dependence issue.

It is interesting, however, that Toyota should speak in terms of cost effectiveness vis-à-vis consumer choice. It is common knowledge that hybrids are more expensive than standard gas powered models.