Could Stellantis restoring diesel options to several models in Europe signal an oil-burner renaissance?
The near-death of diesel has been one of the most dramatic changes to the car market in the last 10 years. This was the go-to fuel for premium and company car drivers, accounting for almost 50% of the car market in 2016.
Then came the fallout from Dieselgate, followed by the shift to hybrid and electric cars amid a crackdown on CO2 emissions, and 10 years later diesel's UK market share stands at just 5.5% . But near-dead isn't completely dead, and diesel is clinging on, with Stellantis in particular in the news for restoring the fuel to some models, mostly in continental Europe. We in the UK aren’t being treated to the same expansion, but Stellantis did reverse a 2022 decision to dump diesels in favour of electric power for passenger versions of its compact vans . Buyers of commercial vans have remained stubbornly loyal to diesel, despite efforts of van makers and regulators to get them into EVs. So it makes sense that passenger vans are one of the final bastions of diesel in the sales charts. But when it comes to circling the wagons to make a last stand shootout with the regulators, the makers of premium SUVs are in the strongest position in terms of size. JLR is by far the largest seller of diesel cars in the UK, accounting for half the 7862 diesels sold in January, led by the Land Rover Defender. For wealthy buyers regularly travelling long distances in their SUVs, diesel continues to make the greatest sense. The various sticks and carrots from the government to promote lower CO2 have pushed plug-in hybrids to the fore , but the reality is that for piling on motorway miles, diesel is more economical. It’s also cheaper and, in the Defender’s case, hands you a six-cylinder engine rather than a four-cylinder one in the PHEV. In the wider European region, Germany’s status as the home of premium has kept diesel as a mainstream choice, accounting for more than a third of all sales there last year, compared with 7.7% for the region in total . Don’t get me wrong, diesel’s headstone is still being carved. Before its death, however, the industry needs to find an electrified solution for bulky long-distance people haulers or fail the market.
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