Volkswagen Hints at Diesels Never Returning to the U.S.

2014 Volkswagen Touareg TDI badge (Credit: Volkswagen )

Volkswagen continues writhing in financial pain over the dieselgate scandal, but that’s not the only issue at hand. According to Reuters, the German automaker’s once-wildly-popular TDI engines may never return to the U.S.

These diesel engines, which were once major players in this market, have been on a stop-sale since VW admitted to using emission-defeat devices to skate by our strict pollution standards here in the States. Just recently, the head of VW’s North American operations, Hinrich Woebcken, told the Wall Street Journal that the company may shut down all diesel sales in the U.S.

This report was somewhat confirmed even more recently by company spokesperson, Jeannine Ginivan. According to her, diesel engines “will be pursued where it makes sense for the market…” In the place of its once-powerful diesel engines, the automaker will likely place more hybrid and EV models.

Unlike Woebcken, Ginivan didn’t nearly close the door on diesels in the U.S. altogether. Instead, she said that VW does “not expect diesel to return to the U.S. with the same significance.”

Read into that what you will, but it seems like the door is slowly closing on TDIs here in the U.S. This is backed up by the fact that CARB and the EPA have not yet OK’d any fixes for the 2-liter TDI engine and VW hasn’t even addressed the 3-liter TDI yet. And even if VW does manage to get approval for a fix, chances are that buyers have lost all trust in VW TDI engines, so sales would likely be a fraction of what they once were.

We’ll continue monitoring the ongoing VW TDI saga and bring you updates as they become available.