2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 15:44
DaimlerChrysler starts a diesel offensive in Japan. Although fuel is still considered dirty in the Far East, those responsible speak of a “milestone for the automotive market in Japan”.
DaimlerChrysler is now entering the Japanese market as part of its global diesel offensive. The President of DaimlerChrysler Japan, Hans Tempel, presented the new Mercedes E-Class in Tokyo on Monday, which will be available for the first time as a diesel variant in Japan with the E320 CDI. The introduction of the new E-Class as "New Clean Diesel" represents a milestone for the automotive market in Japan, "said Tempel. It is the first diesel car to be released on the Japanese market in years. Many Japanese people still think that diesel is slow, loud and sooty.
Other manufacturers will follow
In Japan, the share of diesel in new passenger car registrations was only 0.2 percent last year. According to the Yano Research Institute, however, this proportion should increase to 11 percent by 2015. Only one diesel model is currently available in Japan, Toyota's Prado Land Cruiser SUV. DaimlerChrysler itself withdrew its last diesel cars from the Japanese market in 2002. Temepl did not want to make sales forecasts for the E320 CDI. But the Japanese market has potential. However, in order for the diesel market in Japan to expand overall, it is necessary for other manufacturers to follow suit with diesels, said Tempel.
In industry circles there is already speculation that the advance by Mercedes will also be followed by others such as VW. In Japan, too, where the focus has been on hybrids as an environmentally friendly technology, the media have been following the introduction of diesel very closely for months. In industry circles, it is expected that leading corporations such as Toyota and Honda will also work towards their own diesel cars for the Japanese home market with a view to the further tightened emission regulations planned for 2009. In contrast to Japan, Toyota is already on the market in Europe with its own diesel models.
Diesel market share of five percent expected
Mercedes-Benz is hoping for a tailwind for its diesel advance in Japan from the discussion, which is now also at the center there, about reducing CO2 emissions and increasing oil prices. In addition, the price advantage of diesel over gasoline in Japan is 20 percent, emphasized the President of the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), Bernd Gottschalk, recently. His association expects the market share of diesel cars in Japan to grow to five percent by 2010.
DaimlerChrysler had already announced at the Tokyo Motor Show last year that it would be launching an environmentally friendly and powerful diesel from the Mercedes brand in Japan. “German diesel technology has always been a leader in Europe, as it has been worldwide. It is therefore only logical for a German premium manufacturer like Mercedes-Benz to be the first to introduce the new clean diesel technology in Japan,”explained Jochen Legewie, representative of the VDA in Japan.
