Honda comes clean

Honda is working on two new diesel powerplants in a bid to tap into the growing US compression-ignition segment.

Americans, like Australians, haven't been quick on the uptake when it comes to diesel engines. This is in stark contrast to most European nations, where diesels account for roughly half (or more) of new-vehicle sales.

Part of the reason for this is a long-standing perception that diesels are smoky, noisy and slow. But, as many Australian motorists are beginning to discover, the new breed of diesel is quite a refined and civilised device.

Likewise in the US, motorists are starting to embrace diesels in growing numbers and a JD Power study indicates that oil burners will account for 7.5 per cent of US vehicle sales by 2012.

With this in mind, Honda is honing an all-new turbo-diesel V6 and a newer "super-clean" version of the 103kW/339Nm 2.2-litre four-cylinder i-CTDi diesel unit that's currently available in Europe. Both engines will meet the stringent US Tier2 BIN5 regulations for nitrous oxide emissions.

Honda Australia boss Lindsay Smalley recently revealed that diesel variants of various models are also under consideration for our market, but concedes it will be at least a couple of years before a diesel strategy is implemented locally.

"We're studying it seriously and we have a diesel-powered Accord Euro evaluation car (with the aforementioned 2.2-litre engine) in Australia," Smalley told CarPoint at February's Melbourne motor show. "We acknowledge that diesel will have appeal for a segment of the market, but the distribution network is still primitive."

Smalley says a diesel version of the CR-V is on the wish list, but such a variant is currently only available as a manual. Also under consideration is a hybrid Accord (not the Euro version), which mates a V6 petrol engine with an electric motor

Meanwhile, Honda has also confirmed that it is working on a new hybrid vehicle to replace the ungainly Insight, which will cease production by the end of this year.

The Insight replacement is said to be a 'dedicated' vehicle -- in other words, a stand-alone model rather than a hybrid version of an existing model. It's likely to be cheaper than the Civic hybrid and is tipped to go on sale in 2009.