Would a Diesel Partnership with Toyota Make Sense for Chevrolet?
One of the vehicles I’m most looking forward to driving this year is the brand new Chevrolet Colorado with the 2.8L Duramax diesel engine. That engine will bring increased towing capacity and payload, all the while returning better fuel economy. While the asking price might seem high at $3,730, it’s actually a pretty good bargain.
Compared to the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the diesel option is a bit cheaper. But just because there’s a decent price increase to go for diesel doesn’t mean there’s actually much profit, if any, built into the additional cost of the diesel engine for the manufacturer.
What would be a good way for GM to make some cash on their 2.8L diesel so that it makes financial sense to keep it in production? How about selling the engine to Toyota to use in the Tacoma.
Toyota already has a small diesel available on their worldwide Hilux project, but that engine hasn’t been federalized for sale in the United States. General Motors has already put the time and development into their diesel engine.
While it would increase the value of the competition (there are people who’d buy a diesel Tacoma if it were offered), the Tacoma really isn’t designed to be competition for the Colorado. While the Colorado can off-road, the main mission objective of the Tacoma is to crawl rocks.
While I don’t expect this type of deal happening anytime soon, it would be an interesting way to give customers want they want while two competitors help each other out.
What do you think? Let us know in the forums!
