Diesel vehicles are on the rise as Volkswagen Group of America announces that they’ve sold over 100,000 TDI clean diesel vehicles in the US this year.
The announcement earlier this week marks the first time they’ve surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single calendar year. The number reflects the combined total of vehicles sold for both the Audi and Volkswagen brands.
Diesel vehicles were once seen as the dirty, smelly and loud territory primarily owned by trucks, but they’ve come a very long way. Volkswagen first offered its diesel Rabbit back in 1977 and they’ve sold over a million diesel vehicles since. Those vehicles have evolved over the years to something much cleaner and quieter than their predecessors with a higher MPG than traditional gas vehicles.
This last year saw over 75 percent of diesel cars and SUVs sold in the US coming from Volkswagen and Audi. Year to date, Volkswagen TDI (Turbocharged Direct Injection) diesels accounted for 24 percent of sales which sets a new record. There are seven different diesel vehicles in Volkswagen’s current line-up.
Six of those vehicles manage to achieve an EPA estimate of 40 MPG or more on the highway. Those models include the Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat and Touareg. This offers a lower MPG alternative to both gas vehicles and electric vehicles which require charging stations to keep going. All you need to do with diesels is make sure you drive up to the right pump at the gas station.
Audi introduced a whole new line of TDI diesel vehicles in 2013 including a new Q5, A6, A7, and A8 alongside the existing Q7 SUV. They plan to follow up this year’s large slate of introductions with a new A3 TDI next summer. The new A3 will be the most fuel efficient vehicle in the Audi fleet.
Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.
