Not so easily diesel

At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Ford Vice President of Product Development and Chief Technical Officer Richard Pary-Jones talked to AEI about diesel, design, and global sharing of technologies.

Ask a very senior automotive executive to list the top technology challenges facing the industry in the medium term, and there is likely to be a sharp intake of breath at the potential scope of the answer. Richard Parry-Jones, Ford's Vice President of Product Development and Chief Technical Officer, interviewed by AEI at the Frankfurt Motor Show, singled out one as being particularly tough: the ability to meet diesel engine regulations-Euro 5 and U.S. ULEV2-for cars as well as light and heavy pickups. “That's one of the most time-consuming worries I have at the moment,” said Parry-Jones. “To meet them, it will require a combination of various things including feed-gas emission control improvements, combustion chamber development, and injection system development.”

Parry-Jones relishes challenges like this and is confident that Ford at least can meet it successfully, although it will be expensive. “But if we don't fix this problem, there will not be any diesels on the markets for these classes of vehicle,” he said. Parry-Jones believes turbocharged diesel engines-sales of which have been accelerating hard in Europe in recent years as their sophistication in terms of NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness), torque, performance/fuel economy combination, and emissions (notably low CO₂ levels) have improved-will gradually find a wider buyer base in the U.S. This is particularly likely to be achieved by cascading from heavy pickup trucks into SUVs and then possibly into light pickups and cars. But in a country where gasoline remains (by general world standards) extraordinarily cheap, it will take time-or a very serious and enduring geopolitical change.