General Motors Canada has confirmed that its Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain compact crossovers will no longer offer a diesel engine option for the 2020 model year.
The Equinox and Terrain added an available 1.6L turbodiesel when they were last redesigned in 2018.
Both brands are blaming the diesel's disappearance on low sales compared to the two gas engines it also offers in both cars. The little oil burner made 137 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque; the 1.5L and 2.0L turbo gas four-cylinders offered more impressive horsepower figures of 170 and 252, respectively. In 2019, the diesel promised fuel consumption of 8.5/6.0 L/100 km (city/highway) with front-wheel drive, while the 1.5L gas/FWD model's ratings were 9.2/7.3.
General Motors got further with its diesel experiment than Hyundai, which promised and then reneged on a diesel Santa Fe in the span of about 10 months in 2018, when it was readying the current Santa Fe for its introduction as a 2019 model.
In North America, light-duty diesel engines have never enjoyed the same popularity as in Europe, but an anti-diesel sentiment has been swelling even on that continent in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal, news of which first broke in September 2015. Advancements in plug-in vehicle technology and gasoline engine fuel efficiency have also driven down demand for diesels, whose primary advantage was lower fuel consumption relative to a comparable gas engine.
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