Diesel Dreams: Mazda Still Working on Diesel Engine for the U.S.

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“It’s not dead yet!” Mazda isn’t giving up on its dreams of bringing a diesel engine to the United States, Mazda Motor Corporation CEO Masamichi Kogai told Automotive News at last week’s unveiling of the refreshed Mazda 3 sedan and hatchback in Japan. 

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Despite previous reports that put Mazda’s Skyactiv-D diesel powerplant on indefinite hold in the U.S., the company’s 61-year-old CEO told AN that there’s an internal timeline for bringing the engine to the states, adding that he’d like to see the diesel enter our market during his tenure at the top of the Japanese company.

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Mazda’s been trying to get its diesel engine certified for U.S. sale for some time now. The 2.2-liter powerplant was originally supposed to arrive shortly after the release of the current-generation Mazda 6 as a 2014 model—we even drove a diesel version of that car. However, Mazda was ultimately unable to meet our emission standards while maintaining adequate performance. “Environmental performance must be compatible with driving dynamics,” Kogai told AN.

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Along with its continued attempt to bring its diesel engine stateside, Mazda also is hard at work on the next-generation of Skyactiv gasoline engines. Called Skyactiv 2, the new engines are expected to be 30 percent more efficient than their predecessors. Such gains in efficiency also are likely making it harder for Mazda engineers to work up a U.S. emissions-friendly diesel with the fuel-efficiency gains expected over the company’s gasoline-powered counterparts.

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from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com/diesel-dreams-mazda-still-working-on-diesel-engine-for-the-u-s/