Mazda expects delays to US diesel car launch after VW violations

TOKYO -- Mazda Motor Corp. anticipates delays to the start of diesel-run automobiles in America in the aftermath of the Volkswagen A-G emissions evaluation-rigging scandal, but it stays dedicated to a roll-out, a senior executive mentioned.
Kiyoshi Fujiwara, a Mazda handling executive officer responsible for R&D and price invention, mentioned media reports that Mazda had quit on diesel's possible use in the U.S. marketplace were wrong.
The U.S. start of Mazda diesel automobiles, initially intended for 2016, will still probably be delayed because regulators there are are required to include additional measures to emissions and fuel economy screening procedures, Kiyoshi said.
"We are committed to starting diesel-fueled automobiles in America," Fujiwara told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the Tokyo Motor Show. "There isn't any doubt about about this."
But the more demanding testing, Fujiwara explained, "will give rise to a delay in strategies for for everyone seeking to promote diesel automobiles in the U.S. marketplace. That is why Mazda cannot say when we will find a way to start our diesel automobiles in the U.S. marketplace at this stage."
The anticipated postponement represents an increasingly complex regulatory atmosphere for diesel engineering in the aftermath of the Volkswagen infractions.
Diesel was seen, particularly among European car-makers, as a main-stream engineering to help fulfill tougher fuel-economy and emissions rules. But now it appears vulnerable.
"You can now, with conviction, imagine what is likely to occur," Nissan Motor co-ceo Carlos Ghosn told reporters on Wednesday.
"This scandal isn't likely to make diesel more well-known in America. This scandal isn't likely to make diesel more well-known in Japan."
Many automobile executives and engineers, yet, mentioned diesel was not even close to completed.
"Diesel has the scandal's virtues," Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda told newsmen on the sidelines of the auto-show on Wednesday. "It will be incorrect in the event the on-going scandal resulted in the conclusion of diesel use."
Mazda's Fujiwara said U.S. regulators hadn't notified mazda.com of any adjustments to their screening procedures, but the firm considers that they've previously been toughened and that a delay to its diesel start strategies is inevitable.
"Evaluations will be more demanding," Fujiwara said. "Regulators will not be telling Mazda or anyone what extra screening measures they've added to the procedures."
"Regulators longer trust businesses and will not be telling us anything. Most likely there's a delay. Volkswagen simply do not understand how large a delay it will be."

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28.10.2015
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