Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche is bullish on the adoption of diesel in the United States. At the ECO:nomics conference, Zetsche told the Wall Street Journal that Daimler is very happy with its diesel accomplishments over the last two years (see video below the fold). According to Zetsche, in the states where they are currently available, Daimler's diesel SUVs are showing twenty percent take rates and diesel cars are showing twelve percent take rates. Zetsche is confident Daimler will see the same share when diesel is offered in all 50 states. While very popular in Europe (where around half the cars are oil burners), diesel has yet to take hold in America, where only 3.5 percent of new car sales are diesels.

In the video, Zetsche was also asked about the public's unwillingness to pay for higher fuel economy. Zetsche said he thinks the public is only willing to pay for fuel saving technology that can be paid back in a short time, three to four years at the most. On the economy, Zetsche said the slowdown has not had much impact on Daimler's business so far. This means that Daimler customers are not jumping on the subway, at least not the ones that sell real estate, he joked.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

Carlists's Lou Ann Hammond was recently part of what seems like a roundtable interview with Jim Press, the chairman and vice president of Chrysler. A four-minute video clip of that interview is now available over on Carlist and shows Press answering questions about the fate of the Two-Mode hybrid system that was once developed General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and BMW. Since the Daimler-Chrysler split, Chrysler has stepped in as partner while Daimler has gone on to focus on diesels. Hammon asks Press about which of the green technologies - diesel, flex-fuel, hybrid, hydrogen fuel cell or pure eletric - Chrysler is focusing on. Press' answer: that's where we're putting our attention. "If you just bet on one, you may be disappointed," he said.

My favorite minor slip-up: Press says Chrysler has "bluetooth" bin 5 diesels (he meant Bluetec).

Watch the video here.

[Source: Carlist]

Last Saturday, approximately 40,000 classic show cars and nearly 1.8 million spectators gathered in Michigan for the Woodward Dream Cruise - America's most popular classic car showcase. As an automotive enthusiast, this is one of the premier events that get your adrenaline running. As an environmentalist, you're likely to be appalled by the thousands of gallons of gasoline wasted and hundreds of pounds of exhaust fumes emitted for such a spectacle. And as both, you're undoubtedly divided.

It may not be enough to counter the dire thought of grotesque fossil fuel consumption, however, this year's two most exotic show cars may very well have been zero-emission vehicles. Both Daimler-Chrysler and Ford opted to showcase their fuel-cell technologies to classic car enthusiasts by bringing a hydrogen powered Mercedes-Benz A-Class and a Ford Focus FCV, respectively. Both companies are currently testing small fleets of these fuel-cell vehicles in real-world conditions by their employees as well as some government agencies.

This isn't the first time fuel-efficiency matters have cruised down Woodward Avenue on the third Saturday of August. Last year, a group of about 30 hybrid owners drove their fuel-sipping Toyotas, Hondas and Fords alongside the menacing Chargers, Challengers and Cobras.

We have yet to hear about the response generated by the two fuel-cell cars, so if you hear anything (positive or negative) be sure to let us know.

[Source: Automotive News]