Mercedes dumps diesel in US

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it won't introduce any new diesel-powered passenger cars in North America.

At the same time, Toyota has just notched up 3000 sales of its hydrogen-powered Mirai  in California alone.

The Japanese car-maker says its mass-produced hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle now accounts for more than 80 per cent of all FCEVs sold in the US.

Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz are also heavily into the development of FCEVs, the adoption of which is limited by hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

Of the 63 hydrogen stations in North America, 31 are now in California, where a further 12 are expected to open this year via FirstElement Fuels and Shell.

Toyota is working with industrial gas producer Air Liquide to establish a network of 12 hydrogen stations stretching from New York to Boston, with the first expected to launch in Boston later this year.

The number of hydrogen refuellers is also rapidly expanding in Japan and Europe, where there are 118, but just one outlet exists in Australia.

It is owned by Hyundai Australia, which already has 20 orders for its new-generation NEXO FCEV SUV, which will be the first FCEV available in Australia, although Toyota Australia employed a mobile refueller to power trials of the Mirai here.

Meantime, the head of R&D for Mercedes-Benz cars, Ola Källenius, told journalists at last week's Detroit motor show that the German car-maker will abandon plans to introduce diesel passenger cars in the US, after more than two years of internal debate and discussions with the EPA.

He said diesel vehicles account for just three per cent of the brand's sales, and that "diesel doesn't fit into our portfolio in the US".

While BMW sells diesel 3 Series and X5 models in the US, where Chevrolet has a diesel Cruze and Ranger Rover and Jaguar XE diesels account for up to 15 per cent of JLR's sales, the only diesel Mercedes-Benz model there will be the Sprinter van.

Mercedes delayed plans to sell diesel versions of its C-Class sedan and GLC-Class crossover after the US Department of Justice asked Daimler to check its diesel certification process in early 2016.

A year after Mercedes later asked the EPA to certify its MY2017 diesel Mercedes vehicles for sale in the US, it seems the company has given up trying.

After the EPA investigation into Fiat Chrysler's diesel emissions, Mercedes last year said that "functionalities that are common in diesel vehicles" were being classed as "undisclosed Auxiliary Emission Control Devices and potentially impermissible".

It seems the US EPA's tough stance on diesel cars has led Mercedes to deem unviable the investment required to make them emissions compliant in the US, especially given the limited sales volume.

While EV sales are growing in the US and Europe, diesel passenger car sales have continued to decline worldwide since Volkswagen's 'dieselgate' emissions cheating scandal, which led to the EPA to investigate the emissions of all models on sale in the US. And the car makers themselves are beginning to doubt the enduring sustainability of diesel in global markets.

The UBS Group has forecast the global diesel market to shrink from 13.5 per cent of passenger car sales in 2016 to just four per cent by 2025.

In Australia, where there no FCEVs yet available, diesel sales declined across all vehicle segments except light and heavy commercial vehicles in 2017.

In the largest market segment - private SUVs - diesel sales were down 8.3 per cent to 64,543 and hybrid sales were down 24.5 per cent to 604, while EV sales were up 5.2 per cent to 186 and petrol sales were up 4.5 per cent to 184,822.

In the second largest segment - private passenger cars - diesel sales were down 20.8 per cent to 5260 and hybrid sales were down 4.5 per cent to 2403, while EV sales were up 40.4 per cent to 191 and petrol sales were down 7.2 per cent to 229,263.