Nissan focusing on “clean diesel” to tap European market

Nissan Motor Co. is working harder to develop so-called “clean diesel” vehicles, setting its sights on Europe, where diesel cars are more popular than they are in Japan. “Adding the 6-speed automatic to the X-Trail 20GT line, we hope to attract a wide range of customers,” said Tomoaki Sumi, project leader on the X-Trail team at Nissan. The 20GT automatic is powered by a 2-liter M9R diesel engine developed by Renault SA. Nissan improved the catalytic efficiency in the diesel engine to clean nitrogen-oxide emissions. Because of this, the automatic model gets 14.2 kilometers (km) per liter, better than the gasoline-powered X-Trail, which has a continuously variable transmission, at 11.6 km per liter. Diesel cars are considered environmentally friendly and are popular in Europe because their high heat efficiency lowers CO2 emissions. (July 15, 2010)