Smart decision by Ford with Fiesta ECOnetic

New Ford Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 mpg - but not available in U.S.
DAILY NEWS STAFF

The new Ford Fiesta ECOnetic will only be available in Europe.

The 2009 Ford Fiesta ECOnetic gets 65 miles a gallon. Good news for the struggling American company, right? Not so fast - the Fiesta ECOnetic, which goes on sale in November, will only be available in Europe.

According to Business Week, the main reason that the Fiesta ECOnetic will not go on sale in the U.S. is that it runs on diesel. In America, diesel still has a bad reputation as something with a bad odor that is used for tractor trailers.

In fact, new diesel vehicles have anti-pollution technology that make them as cleaner or cleaner than gasoline-powered vehicles. The new diesel cars are also 30% more fuel-efficient than gasoline-powered cars. As a result, in Europe, half of all cars sold last year were powered by diesel.

But in the U.S. diesel is used by only 3% of cars. Taxes here make diesel cost as much as a dollar more per gallon. Instead of diesel, hybrids such as the Toyota Prius are seen as more trendy.

According to Business Week, the price of the car is also an impediment - current exchange rates mean that the Fiesta ECOnetic would cost around $25,700 in the U.S., compared to $24,000 for the Prius.

While Ford won't go introduce their diesel car into the U.S. market, international automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Honda do plan to introduce such cars here in a couple of years.

It would be a nightmare for Ford if diesel cars do eventually become popular in the U.S., but from other companies, when Ford has one all ready to go.