Actually, this article is also not being honest either. Ford have built cars for Europe that can do between 50-70 MPG for a long time - some cars exceed this. So have GM, known as "Vauxhall" in the UK, and "Opel" in the European mainland. In fact in any of you don't believe this, check out ANY of the makers websites in Europe right now. Their diesel cars are quiet, and EXTREMELY clean ...to the point that in the UK, the government gives the drivers of diesels tax breaks for driving as an incentive to be a "clean driver". The so called "new" ford Fiesta has been a best seller in Europe now for over 30 years. Their diesel versions have been returning over 50MPG ever since I can remember them being built. The newer versions are rated to do over 75 to the gallon. For those diehard Gas junkies who are only used to big US smokey truck diesel engines as their sole perception of how diesel technology looks to them is, take an enjoyable trip across Europe in a Ford or GM built Diesel car and I guarantee, like my American wife, you will come home angry and frustrated that the American people are being lied to and that this wonderful, clean (and if Bio-Diesel is used, totally environmentally friendly) diesel engine technology is being withheld from us here. It is said that 70-85% of the rest of the world drive Diesels! The world has been enjoying this technology for decades, while "certain" people your own government have been with holding this technology from the American people! Wake up America! They are selling you expensive, dual technology Hybrids that run on "gas" based technology that do an "amazing 42 mpg!" ...big deal and now you have TWO technologies to have to deal with and maintain! I would rather have engine that does a million miles and does 55-75 mpg with out the worry of the $3000.00-a-hit batteries to dispose of once they finally don't hold their charge! What's more I can run my Diesel engine on anything that is made from ANY vegetable matter like the original inventor of the diesel engine intended it to be! Oil IS a dwindling resource, and if oil does eventually become scarce, I want to be an American that drives a diesel car, that can run on vegetable oil based fuel that is produced by American farmers without the need to rely on global mainly middle eastern markets! To ALL the manufacturers and to the US Government, give the American people the Diesel engines and let us all enjoy the 55-75mpg that the rest of the world is enjoying!

I worked for GM in the mid 90's in a testing facility in Denver. We tested emissions on proto powertrains and had multiple drivetrain groups in our facility. There was a time that the V8 powertrain group was there in 1996 testing the new powertrain that was going to be in the new 1998 Corvette. The engineer gave me a program/trace to run on the dyno with the car. I hooked it up, ran the trace and reviewed the data. I was floored that this high performance car, running an aggressive trace got 56 MPG on the first run. I thought that I did something incorrect with setting up the test. So I rechecked everything and ran the trace again, and that time it got 58 MPG! The car also had virtually zero emissions as well. I took all the test data to the engineer and asked if I did something wrong, showing him the results. He said "Nope, thats what I wanted to see" and then turned around and shredded the data. I was shocked and asked why??? He stated that the EPA will never approve such a thing. Cars having this kind of gas mileage would turn the economy on its ear and big oil would kill our company... We have had the technology everyone!! We've had it for some time! That was not the first time that happened at the Denver facility!

My two cents.   Diesel went to crap in the U.S. because our beloved auto makers used mostly gas engine blocks.   They fell apart as a result.  Those that weren't  gas blockss were badly built so they would intentionall wear out.  Not untill the Japanease auto makers started paying the excise fees and grease money did our beloved auto makers have to start making cars that lasted longer than 100,000 miles.   This was intentional People !!!   Now the VW diesel comes along with it's 300,000 mile warranted engine block pushing 50mpg and people are surprised?  Your kidding right?   If there's not a market for it here then why does VW sell out every year sometimes producing a waiting list for the next years model.   Oh, and don't forget these cars are rarely sold for sticker.   Coming from the auto industry myself I've seen them go for 3k over sticker as a market premium.     Get real people.   Push your politicians.   This has got to be the biggest known scam on the planet !   Heck, my 79 Datsun B210 was hitting 38 highway back then.  

I am so sick of the games the auto industry, american/foreign oil dealers and politicians are playing with our hard earned money.  I wish the people of the  US would grow a back bone to stand up to these entities, but we are so self consumed we can't get to the big picture that the middle class people are being ripped off by tremendous proportions...

This is hardly new. My last car, a '98 VW Jetta diesel got 50mpg highway and had adequate power for merging/passing, even before I chipped it. My current car, an '09 Jetta TDI doesn't quite get the same mileage but it weighs 600lb more and has a LOT more power. Still, 38 city and 44 highway is pretty good. If Ford doesn't think Americans want small diesel cars, how do they explain VW's success in selling their TDI here? It's not "lingering American perceptions" that keeps Ford from selling diesels here, it's their focus groups that don't know any better.