When you think of diesel powered automobiles in North America, chances are you think of smelly buses or stinky trucks that are slow or clumsy. It is little wonder that diesel engines only account for about 1.5% of the passenger car sales in North America. However in Europe and other parts of the world diesels can account for up to 50% of passenger automobile sales. Volkswagen seeing this divide seeks to reintroduce the diesel engine to the N. American market.
Volkswagen’s marketing to increase growth of diesel engine sales mainly focuses are logical advertisements and campaigns to combat many of the negative stereotypes associated with diesel engines here. In some YouTube videos VW shows how clean a diesel engine is by placing a coffee filter over a new VW’s diesel car exhaust to show that the coffee filter returns unmarked. In it’s latest campaign VW shows the fuel efficiency of their diesel engines by organizing a cross country tour, from Halifax to Vancouver , by inviting reporting different reporters to drive different parts of the tour. While this opens VW open to critique (many reports made fun of the GPS system) it does publicize the fact that diesels are much more efficient compared to traditional petrol engines.
Almost all VW automobiles come with a diesel option during purchase. As such, VW is in a very good position to profit if they can entice budget conscious consumers to consider a diesel when looking for their next car.
sources:
http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/10/10/cross-country-diesel-tour-showcases-volkswagens-strengths/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH834IFpGTQ
image credit: http://www.autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20111006/CARNEWS/111009921/AR/0/vw-diesel-recall.jpg