America's automotive industry can enhance fuel efficiency and clean up the environment more quickly if it takes full advantage of recent rapid improvements in clean diesel technology.
That's the message John R. Horne, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Navistar International Corporation, delivered earlier this week to members of the Economic Club of Detroit.

Horne challenged his audience to join with him and other leaders in the automotive industry to find new ways of using today's clean diesel to enhance fuel efficiency, cut emissions and reduce dependence on petroleum.
"Diesel, which is widely used as a power plant for trucks and buses, is an under-used option when it comes to light trucks, SUVs, mini-vans and automobiles," Horne said. "There's a real opportunity to deliver diesel's benefits to a broader automotive market." He cited diesel's advantage in fuel efficiency over gasoline as one reason why one-third of new cars sold in Europe are powered by diesel, compared with less than one percent in the U.S.
Horne pointed out that diesel has now overcome almost all the historic reasons it has not been much used in American automobiles, including emissions. He cited the fact that by 2007, diesel engines used in trucks and buses will have removed 99 percent of the particulate matter emitted when regulation began in 1988. In fact, International's Green Diesel Technology school bus has already been certified for meeting EPA's 2007 PM and hydrocarbon standards.
"Diesel can actually help to reduce global warming and clean up the environment quicker than the alternatives," Horne said. He cited a report from the staff of the California Air Resources Board that found that $30 million spent on clean diesel school buses would remove 24 more tons of particulate matter and 172 tons more nitrogen oxides (NOx) than the same amount spent on natural gas buses.
To illustrate how clean diesel technology has become, Horne displayed a white handkerchief that had been held over the tailpipe of his company's Green Diesel Technology school bus, now in use by a number of California school districts. The handkerchief remained clean, odorless and free of soot.
Horne asked automotive industry leaders to join with him in supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tough 2007 standards for ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, which he called a "key enabler" for future emissions improvements. He also called on automotive industry leaders to work together to take the final necessary steps, including the near elimination of emissions of NOx.
"Once we clear that final hurdle - and we are very close - there's a real opportunity to deliver diesel's benefits to a broader automotive market," Horne said.