When Honda sells its first diesel engine in the United States, it likely will be in the Civic, Accord or CR-V.
John Watts, manager of Honda's U.S. product planning, said Honda plans to introduce a clean-burning, 2.2-liter turbodiesel in the United States within three years.
“That 2.2 could probably crank out about 200 horsepower and about 220 (pounds-feet of) torque at little rpm,” he said at a press event here. “Vehicles like the Pilot (SUV) and Odyssey (minivan) are too big for a four-cylinder.”
Honda sells a 2.2-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine in Europe, but Watts says it does not meet U.S. emission standards.
Takeo Fukui, Honda Motor Co. CEO, said in late June that the company will unveil a four-cylinder diesel in the United States that will run as clean as a gasoline engine.
Watts thinks diesel will catch on in this country if the engines can go 400 miles on a single tank of fuel.
“I think four cylinders and diesels make a lot of sense with the price of gas,” Watts says. “But we're looking at everything — diesels, compressed natural gas, fuel cells, hybrids and E85. We don't believe there's one solution.”
Watts also said the Honda Division may need to add another SUV to its lineup.
“We don't know what it will be yet,” he says. “Maybe something between a minivan and a SUV. But we do need something between the CR-V and the Pilot.”
