Bruce

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AutoWeek | Published 12/04/06, 10:51 pm et

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"TOKYO -- Honda's Ridgeline, - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and Odyssey and Acura's MDX are candidates to get a clean V-6 diesel engine that Honda Motor Co. is developing, says CEO Takeo Fukui.
Fukui declined to specify which Honda or Acura vehicles will get a diesel engine. But he identified those four light trucks as "the Honda products that would need this kind of technology."

Honda will sell a clean 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel in 2009. A V-6 diesel using the same technology will follow.

Honda says the diesel engines will meet tough new U.S rules requiring that diesel emissions essentially be as clean as gasoline-engine emissions.

During an interview with Automotive News, Fukui also said:

Honda turbos are possible. The Acura - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER SUV, which went on sale in August, is the first Honda or Acura vehicle in the United States that uses a turbocharger. But although Honda aims to differentiate Acura cars and trucks from Honda models, Fukui rejects the idea that turbos might be limited to Acuras.

"We don't have any intention to keep turbos just dedicated to Acura," he says. "In the future, it's possible that they will be adopted in Honda products as well."

No major Mexican expansion is planned. If Honda needs more North American vehicle production capacity beyond the plant it plans to build in Indiana, expansion in the United States is more likely than in Mexico.

Honda has not yet broken ground on its Indiana plant. Production is expected to begin in 2009. Its plant in El Salto Jalisco, Mexico, is by far the smallest of its car or truck plants in North America. It builds about 30,000 Accords a year.

"It could be possible to expand the Mexican plant just slightly," say to 50,000 or 60,000, Fukui says. "But I don't think we will ever make that a 200,000-unit plant." "

cawimmer430

This will be interesting to watch. Honda's are often noted for their high-reving 4 and 6-cylinder engines. With the addition of low-reving diesels to their lineup in the US, I wonder how the Honda fans will take it as diesels are not yet perceived as sporty in the US (correct me if I am wrong someone).

Also, the 2.2-l 4-cylinder diesel Honda sells here is the best Japanese diesel in Europe at the moment. The European press has been very impressed with that engine. Honda builds great engines, so I there is no doubt in my mind that they'll master the art of building good diesels.

Other Japanese diesel engines in Europe are practically non-existant. Nissan diesels are Renault-sourced, Toyota diesels tend to be weak and don't come with a particulate filter option and Mitsubishi generally outsources VW diesels for some of their cars. Not sure about Mazda diesels, could be Ford-sourced.

Bruce

Nope, us North American's really do not percieve Diesel's as sporty, but i think as time passes that will change, people will see the benifit of it.

Very much true, Honda does make great engines and i think with this upcoming V6 engine it'll also be great.. However going back to the comment about American's percepetion of diesel's..will it work..

Time can only tell