POSTED NOVEMBER 2016
Mazda had the best of intentions six years ago when it proclaimed it would begin offering diesel engines in the United States in 2012 to make its fleet more fuel efficient.
But there was a problem.
To meet U.S. diesel emission requirements -- which are tougher than those in Europe and Japan -- Mazda's planned diesel vehicles would have simply lacked oomph. That was a painful prospect for a brand that for more than 15 years has advertised itself under the words "zoom-zoom."
Six years and three delays later, Mazda Motor Corp. CEO Masamichi Kogai says his company has achieved a way to balance driving performance with clean emissions and is now ready to move forward.
Mazda will finally introduce a diesel version of its best-selling vehicle, the CX-5 crossover, next year, he announced last week ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show.
He promised that the new diesel setup makes no compromises on performance or emissions.
Kogai said a revamped 2.2-liter Skyactiv-D clean diesel engine, tweaked to meet more stringent U.S. regulations for nitrogen oxide emissions, will be offered in a new-generation CX-5 in the second half of 2017. The redesigned CX-5 debuted at the L.A. Auto Show.
The EPA must still give an official fuel economy rating for the CX-5 diesel. But Kogai said it would be among the most fuel-efficient rides in the small crossover segment, including hybrids.
Diesel delays
Mazda's original 2010 U.S. plan was delayed three times over the past four years. The introduction next year would mark a major milestone for Mazda's line of Skyactiv engines, transmissions and lightweight platforms. Having a clean diesel in the mix was originally envisioned as Mazda's cost-effective, fuel-efficient answer to the expensive hybrid drivetrains being developed by rival carmakers with much deeper pockets.
But the plan was stymied from the get-go by more stringent U.S. emission rules.
"Three times after that, we had to postpone the introduction timing, so that disappointed dealers and customers," Kogai said of the original plan. "We wanted to make the breakthrough this time."
The fix came through adding a urea selective catalytic reduction treatment to scrub the exhaust of nitrogen oxides, Kogai said. Mazda developed a compact selective catalytic reduction unit that not only reduced its cost but reduced its impact on engine performance, he said. Further gains in performance came through various tweaks to reduce friction throughout the drivetrain.
Uphill battle
Mazda spent five years measuring customer feedback to develop the improvements to the North American diesel engine so that it would be sporty and clean, Kogai said.
Mazda knows of the uphill battle in convincing U.S. consumers of the charms of diesel now, after Volkswagen AG's diesel emissions scandal tainted the technology's image.
Clean diesels account for only around 2.5 percent of the U.S. market, Kogai reckons.
But Mazda has high hopes for running the playbook it used in Japan, where consumers were long turned off by diesel's reputation for sooty exhaust and rackety engines.
Before Mazda introduced the first Skyactiv-D engines in Europe in 2011 and in Japan the next year, diesel penetration was just 1 percent of the Japanese market, where buyers are more enthralled with hybrids. But Japanese consumers gradually warmed to the technology.
Diesels now represent 8 percent of the Japanese market, and Mazda claims about half that volume, Kogai said. Mazda now offers diesel versions of its Mazda2 subcompact, Mazda3 compact, Mazda6 midsize sedan and CX3 compact crossover, in addition to the CX5. Diesels account for about 36 percent of Mazda's total volume in Japan.
Last year, Mazda sold 103,771 diesel vehicles in Japan and 182,758 worldwide.
