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GM Shelves Diesel Option for Equinox and Terrain

By William Maley

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  • ..Slow sales caused the demise of the diesel option..

There will be one less engine option for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain come the 2020 model year. The Car Connection first reported the news on the Equinox yesterday morning, while Autoblog followed with the Terrain news later in the day. Both stories reported the same reason for cancellation, they didn't sell.

"We did discontinue the diesel engine option in the 2020 Chevrolet Equinox due to low demand," said Chevrolet spokesman Kevin Kelly.

The news doesn't come as a shock to us. Diesel engines have gotten a bad rap since the Volkswagen diesel emission scandal came to light, causing sales to drop. The value argument was also tough for both models. A diesel Equinox started at $30,795. But only for $100 more, you could have gotten into the 2.0L turbo-four that offered better performance. Over at the Terrain, the diesel cost around $2,000 more than the 2.0 turbo-four. Diesel fuel is more expensive than its gas counterpart as well.

That will leave the upcoming Mazda CX-5 Skyactiv-D as the only diesel option in the compact crossover class. But as we have noted previously, the diesel option is quite expensive (begins at $42,045) and fuel economy figures are disappointing (27 City/30 Highway/28 Combined).

Source: The Car Connection, Autoblog

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    Veteran

    ccap41

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    I still think the efficiency alone(excluding the fact it costs $3800 more than a comparably equipped 1.5T gasser) makes a very viable choice for those who commute 70-100 miles a day but they don't want to be stuck in a car. As we all know CUVs are all the craze so you'd think if people knew about it, it would have sold well enough to be kept around. 

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    Grand Master

    G. David Felt

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    15 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

    I still think the efficiency alone(excluding the fact it costs $3800 more than a comparably equipped 1.5T gasser) makes a very viable choice for those who commute 70-100 miles a day but they don't want to be stuck in a car. As we all know CUVs are all the craze so you'd think if people knew about it, it would have sold well enough to be kept around. 

    Except for those of us into the auto scene, most people did not know about it due to the lack of marketing / use case focus story telling to move them. Kinda like some of the various auto's that Ford built and I think have a useful life yet are being killed off. Fusion should not be dying. Just saying.

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    ocnblu

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    Makes me laugh when surreal tries to pair the 2.0t to the diesel as if they are anywhere in the same universe.  The 2.0t is for hotshoes... or even ppl who feel safer with a lot of power under their right foot.  The diesel is... for ppl who prize fuel mileage and longevity over straight line scoot.  Diametrically opposed customer bases.

    PPL on VW's Facebook page are still commenting... they'd love a TDi Tiguan.

     

    GM went through the expensive process of certifying the diesel in the US... then they did NOTHING to sell it!  Stupid!

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    • Veteran

    ccap41

    New Member
    15 hours ago, dfelt said:

    Except for those of us into the auto scene, most people did not know about it due to the lack of marketing / use case focus story telling to move them. Kinda like some of the various auto's that Ford built and I think have a useful life yet are being killed off. Fusion should not be dying. Just saying.

    That's what I said, "you'd think if people knew about it, it would have sold well enough to be kept around."

    13 hours ago, ocnblu said:

    PPL on VW's Facebook page are still commenting... they'd love a TDi Tiguan.

    Absolutely. People who had TDi's, loved them. I had two friends with them and they also loved them. They could eek out 50mpg. 

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