The Pug works well in the city and the country and is configured as a ‘Tourning’ which means I can turn it into a small panel van if I need it.

Diesel is not only MORE efficient, the stress on the engine is much less so (touch wood) it should last much longer than a high revving petrol buzz box.

Anything that uses fossil fuels is a, at best, a medium term solution, but I can’t understand why diesel doesn’t sell better here. I also agree that our lack of exploitation of natural gas is a mystery deserving of a good conspiracy theory!

I drive a Honda CR-V that has the same engine as my wife’s Honda Accord Euro. The two vehicles get about the same fuel efficiency as each other, so your automatic equation is plainly wrong in this case.

As a commuting cyclist I have developed a strong dislike of SUVs, so did I buy one? Because I wanted a wagon and small, decent wagons are nearly impossible to find. That category of car has been largely replaced in the market by small SUVs.

Glenn should check his facts on this one - Modern diesel engines are 25-30% more economical than their petrol equivalents to travel a given distance. The price differential between ULP and diesel is about $1.53 and $1.80 per litre (courtesy WA Fuelwatch site). From what I can see there is still a cost advantage to diesel - and it produces less CO2 per kilometre travelled.

And as others have said, diesels use less fuel per mile/kilometer so people are putting their money into the right thing - the argument for diesel is save the planer, not save my pocket.

This is just plain wrong & Nigel is absolutely correct. What’s more Australia is the only country in the world as far as I know where diesel is more expensive than petrol (I know because I go to many of them). Everywhere else it is 2/3rds the price. This is the main reason for diesels being developed to the high level they have in Europe. Is it surprising that there is a dearth of diesel vehicles in Australia?

Diesel used to be cheaper in Australia; this changed in the 70’s when the govt at the time decided it was too cheap & was eroding it’s tax base. I don’t agree with any of the 5ct reduction stuff but diesel should certainly be brought back in line with the rest of the planet which would encourage the sales of efficient vehicles & assist the transport & agricultural sectors amongst many others.

It is interesting that this pricing disparity is seldom raised; it is high time it was.

I am unable to follow the logic of this statement. Given that the price per litre differential remains constant (and assuming that this is not more than offset by the increased economy of the diesel), surely the greater the distance travelled, the greater the dollar cost of travelling diesel versus petrol? If the diesel economy more than offsets the per litre price differential, then distance travelled (over the life of the vehicle) is important in terms of offsetting the greater capital cost of diesel vehicles compared to their petrol equivalents.

I owned a 1.3L hyundai hatch while I was single and now a 3.2l TD Pajero with a family in rural area just o/s Melbourne. Both are great vehicles for what they were bought for. Hyundai 40L x 550 K’s @ 1.60 p/L. Paj 90L x 900k @ 1.80 p/l. On a per head/payload basis there aint much difference…not enough to spill blood over..

Arguing about internal combustion engines merits (diesel vs petrol vs hybrid) is a waste of time and emotion. Put your energy and emotion and cash into something really creative..like buying shares in some existing companies developing non-fossil vehciles….leave the uncreative and unproductive posturing and subjective opinion to politicians…

This is a classic example of the kind of false economy that the media’s tirade against SUV’s (call ‘em what you want) - instead of buying a safe, modern, vehicle with a modern efficient 4 cylinder petrol or diesel engine you go out and buy a car with the same floor stamping as a 1966 falcon, with an engine based on an engine first built in Australia in the 1960’s that displaces 4.0L and drinks fuel, for what, so you can hold your head up and say you didn’t buy a 4wd?? Even if you bought the gas version- much better than the petrol but still only on par with a RAV4 4cyl, X-Trail, Patriot etc, in terms of fuel consumption- it is still not as safe as those afore mentioned cars with ABS ESP Side airbags, Curtain airbags etc standard. My family gets around in a Jeep Patriot CRD, it gets 7 litres per 100km around town, 6 on the highway has all relevant safety features (including all wheel drive) and is extremely comfortable for 4 adults or 2 adults and 3 kids, it has a smaller footprint than a Camry (shorter and narrower) and uses less fuel, so explainto me why SUV’s are so evil….?