Mercedes-Benz E 320 BLUETEC Launching A New Era In Diesel Technology

"The introduction of clean diesel fuel in the USA represents an opportunity we have been battling for long and hard, the sort of opportunity we intend to utilise fully from day one", explained Dr Thomas Weber, head of Development at DaimlerChrysler AG and at the Mercedes Car Group, during the E 320 BLUETEC presentation in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background: state-of-the-art diesel vehicles, which already account for more than half of annual new registrations in Western Europe, have not yet realised their full potential in the USA due to excessive sulphur levels in existing fuel. All that is about to change with the nationwide introduction of clean diesel fuel with a sulphur content of just 15 ppm. "Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel" (ULSD) will be on sale at up to 76,000 US filling stations during the initial stage and will help promote the adoption of BLUETEC. This innovative diesel technology will also enable Mercedes-Benz to meet the world's most stringent emission limits for nitrogen oxides, providing the right conditions for state-of-the art diesel technology to make its mark in the USA.

"BLUETEC power is about to win many friends in North America as soon as US customers get behind the wheel of a car like the E 320 BLUETEC", says Dr Thomas Weber. "Our 208 hp three-litre V6 develops eight-cylinder-like torque of 400 pounds feet combined with the sort of economy you get from a four-cylinder engine in everyday use." The combined consumption of just 35 miles per US gallon provides a range of 700 miles without having to refuel.

Ultra-modern diesel vehicles provide their owners with assured, clean and economical driving pleasure and can potentially - given a sufficiently large uptake - make national economies less dependent on oil imports. An EPA study dating back to 2004 confirmed the enormous potential savings inherent in diesel. Margo Oge, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, came up with the following calculation: if just a third of the light-duty vehicles in the USA were state-of-the-art diesel vehicles, we would be looking at saving 1.4 million barrels a day, the equivalent quantity of oil the USA imports from Saudi Arabia every day.

With no end in sight to soaring fuel prices, experts predict a greater uptake of diesel around the globe. The recent J.D. Power study "Global Outlook For Diesel" forecasts that the current global diesel market share of 18 percent is set to reach around 30 percent in 2015: diesel vehicles are expected to account for over 15 percent of new registrations in North America.