Bring This Diesel To The USA, Ford!

So Ford has this new car coming out, and it’s got an awesome MPG rating.  This new Fiesta gets a rated 65 MPG.  Holy Crap!!!  For a five passenger, two-door sub compact car, that is incredible.  And what kind of power plant is hiding under the hood on this monster?  All 89 horsepower coming from a 1.6 litre turbodiesel.  Yes, a diesel.

Ford’s autoshow site lists some intriguing statistics on the car:

The heart of the Fiesta ECOnetic is Ford’s 1.6-liter four-cylinder TDCi turbodiesel engine, which is rated in the U.K. at the equivalent of U.S. 51 mpg in the city, 74 mpg on the highway and 64 mpg on the combined European driving cycle. The 89-hp engine also emits an ultra-low 98g/km of CO2.

Well guess what?  Since it’s a diesel, Ford is not making any plans to bring it to the USA.  Well, not in that configuration anyway.  They will wait until they put a gasoline engine in it, which will cut the mileage in half.  I wish I was kidding, but according to an report from wired.com, Ford is thinking that people are scared of diesel, so they don’t think it will sell.  Come on, Ford, are you serious?  At about the same size and price of other high-mileage cars, this Fiesta will not have anything to set itself apart from the others.  Good job being average, Ford.  Good job not making a name for yourself.  It’s a good thing that your business isn’t in dire straits of running itself into the ground!  Oh wait.  Never mind.  You arleady are.

The USA is already importing a lot of diesel-powered vehicles, including small cars. They aren’t all 18-wheelers.  How are we supposed to get a better infrastructure of fuel delivery systems if we don’t have the cars to feed?  I know, it’s the whole chicken-egg debacle.  Neither one can exist without the other.  How are we supposed to have more non-gasoline-powered vehicles without a good way to fuel them?  How can we have effective non-gasoline fueling locations without the consumer demand?

Hey Ford.  Wake up.  We need cars with better mileage.  Quit acting so scared.  You really need something to boost your sales.  Bring this car, or another like it, to the US market.