diesel hybrid powertrain coming to Range Rover

[haven]

http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/land-rover-diesel-hybrid-set-for-us.html

Edmunds.com says a diesel-hybrid powertrain is planned for the Range Rover and RR Sport. European customers will see the new powertrain this Fall, and the plan is for USA availability in "a few years."

 

[rokrawlr]

Hopefully they won't price it so far out of the range of people who actually want a diesel for more than just the "look at my new toy" factor. But it will probably be even more expensive than the supercharged models are.

 

[SteveMfr]

What makes you think that? For the average consumer there is next to no advantage in owning a diesel - the small fuel savings aside. If LR were to price a diesel that high it would Edsel.

If you look at the LR lineup in Europe, all of the entry models are powered by diesels. This does have a bit of history: diesel fuel is priced around 20% lower in many European countries, so diesels have come to be perceived as 'budget' vehicles and gasoline vehicles are high-powered rich-people cars. But LR is not going to turn this policy upside down.

What I can imagine is that the L405 RR is not offered in the US with the entry level TDV6 motor it is here. And maybe even the same for the LR4. But the TDV8 will be in the same price category as the gas V8.

 

[proper4wd]

Hopefully they drop the Range Rover and Range Rover HSE from the lineup and offer the hybrid as the "lower end" model priced around $90k and keep the Supercharged (badged just, "Range Rover") around $110k.

 

[rokrawlr]

Here in the states, diesels are generally more expensive to purchase than their equivalent gas engine models. Plus diesel fuel is also as expensive, if not more, than the premium unleaded fuel is. Depending on how Mercedes does with the GLK series bluetec diesels could make LR want to bring the TDV6 as well as the TDV8.

 

[proper4wd]

Make no mistake this has nothing to do with offering a "premium" diesel like you see in a lot of other products, this is for fuel economy regulations and fuel economy regulations alone.

They dont even need to sell many of them, so long as the product is offered in the lineup it boosts the fleet ratings and mitigates federal penalties.

 

[Red90]

Diesel are a lot nicer to drive.....

 

[ZG]

Diesels are just....great. Hope to see this come true.

 

[Red90]

I don't know why it not the same in the States, but in Canada, it seems much more Audi and BMW suvs are being sold with the diesels than the gasoline engines. People like the driving characteristics of the diesels more and enjoy the better mileage. i imagine it will be the same for the RRs Of course, we have equal taxation on diesel and gas fuels, so diesel cost is similar to regular gasoline. Unfortunately in the USA, they tax diesel at a higher rate.....

 

[SteveMfr]

Diesel are a lot nicer to drive.....

That's funny. The discussions on the European boards are nearly always quite to the opposite - the majority argue that a gasoline V8 is much more befitting to the luxurious character of a RR.

I prefer the diesel due to the fact that our RRs are the family transportation. ~20% better mileage and ~20% lower fuel costs = nearly 40% less / mile.