BMW boss predicts diesel will dominate Down Under
BMW Oz's top man says diesels will soon account for 80 per cent of new cars – and that local manufacturers must get on the distillate wagon if they are to surviveBMW Group Australia managing director, Guenther Seemann, has boldly predicted that up to 80 per cent of Australia's new passenger cars and SUVs will be diesel powered "within five to six years."
Speaking at the launch of the German maker's latest diesel offering, the twin-turbo X5 3.0sd, Seemann said he expects that Australia will soon have a similar level of diesel penetration as Europe -- despite the lack of taxation incentives that are offered in many European countries.
Seemann said diesel buyers would continue to buy diesel vehicles for their fuel consumption and range, as well as the driveability of the cars courtesy of their strong torque characteristics.
However, he qualified his prediction. Seemann told The Carsales Network the figure of 80 per cent diesel passenger/SUV market would be reliant on the local manufacturers offering a diesel engine in their large cars.
Indeed, Seemann suggests that this is highly likely and that if they don't move to diesel that they would find it "tough to survive".
The BMW boss suggested that were he CEO of Ford or Holden, he would put any V8 petrol engine plans on hold and work towards instead introducing a V8 turbodiesel for performance enthusiasts.
Seeman's comments come as BMW recorded its highest ever diesel monthly sales with 33.1 per cent of the company's total for January made up of diesel-engined variants.
The X5 SUV accounted for the lion's share of BMW diesel sales with 74 per cent of the 263 vehicles sold in January diesel -- including 36 per cent of the new 3.0sd. The second most popular diesel in the maker's lineup was the 120d hatch.
BMW now offers diesel variants in its 1, 3, 5, X3 and X5 model lines in Australia and these will be supplemented by the new X6 that arrives mid-year. The new 7 Series that will go on sale in Australia early in 2009 will include a diesel variant, Seemann said.
Across all manufacturers, the diesel passenger and SUV market still only accounted for 12.7 per cent of the record January new vehicle total. The diesel share is growing rapidly, however, with this total representing an average year-on-year increase of around 59.4 per cent.
While both Holden and Ford are looking at diesel engines for their large cars, if current trends persist the impact of the popularity of these will be less important overall as that segment itself contracts.
Overall, the market share of the large car segment fell 20 per cent compared to January 2007 with Large Cars under $70K (including Commodore, 380, Falcon and Toyota's Aurion) accounting for just 8.3 per cent of the total market. At the same time, the booming light and small car and SUV segments are seeing a greater range of diesel engines, both available and being purchase by customers, helping to drive sales even higher.
This changing market segmentation along with forecasts that suggest the price of petrol is going to keep rising may yet make Seemann's predictions seem a lot less bold than they first appear.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
