Mazda to revive diesel-powered passenger car market in Japan

Mazda Motor Corp. said it will attempt to revive the diesel-powered passenger car market in Japan, which shrunk considerably in the late 1990s because consumers were wary of the exhaust fumes from diesel-powered cars. Despite more advanced technologies which improved emissions, the domestic diesel cars sales in 2011 were less than 10,000 units. After seven and a half years, Mazda celebrated the launching of diesel-powered passenger cars and unveiled the diesel models of the CX-5 sport utility vehicle (SUV). The company also launched gasoline models of the SUV but it is hoping that sales of the diesel models will account for more than half of the company’s domestic CX-5 sales. (February 16, 2012)