There will always be a place for diesel engines for transportation. Just maybe not in passenger cars and SUVs.
Currently, the only way for goods to leave the east/west coast ports and get to warehouses and store shelves is by diesel engine.

None the less, Ford still plans to sell the F150 with a 3.0L diesel.

And yet it seems that FCA will still release the Wrangler in Q3 with the 3.0 diesel option? Surely the Wrangler is going to become an obsolete vehicle eventually with all the strangle-hold environmental economics, and the diesel is just a band-aid until then, but the current outlook hasn't been to discontinue that line!

I am predicting right now, that the Ford diesel in the F150 is going to be so expensive that our heads will collectively explode. Ford gets more money for their trucks than Ram does in real life in general, you can often get a Ram Ecodiesel($5000) for the same price as a Ford with the 2.7L($800-950) in some cases. If ford's prices continue i bet you wont be able to touch one for much less than 40k.

What you say may be true for the US market, but it's a market that's enormously manipulated from fuel tax, road tax, sales tax, EPA requirements, need I go on?
The rest of the world market has few to none of the restrictions, and a vehicle product selection many times what the US has. AND YET diesels still have a HUGE following, and the price premium is due to demand, not the artificial economic manipulation that the US market is left with.

You are right that it has nothing to do with torque, though. What it does have to do with is available fuels, and vehicle longevity.
Most nations of the world do not have to deal with low sulfur low zinc diesel/oils. What they DO have is complete crap petrol.
Don't believe me? Go live in Mexico for a year and run your beloved GTDI on the best gas available there the whole time. Trust me, that it will not be recognizable, even after just one year. TOAST!

Here it may make sense. MOST of the rest of the world.. not a chance.
Diesel, on the other hand, is far superior compared to ours, for vehicle longevity, and that's what makes it something they will ALWAYS choose, over gasoline, if they can possibly afford it.

Like I've been saying all along. Build an electric 4wd SUV or 1/2 ton truck that goes 250 miles on a charge and can tow my boat for under $50,000 and I'd be one of the guys trampling over salesmen to give them a check first. Until then the world is stuck in this stupid fossil fuel rut until we run out. Then it will be chaos, war, murder, etc for a gallon of anything UNLESS you have an EV (and guns).

What VW does regarding diesel passenger vehicles is a moot point. The UK, France, and China are essentially banning the sale of internal-combustion-powered passenger vehicles by 2040; expect other countries to follow suit.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... -telegraph

The reality is that we're being pushed into a future of entirely-electric vehicles whether we like it or not - or if aspects of the technology behind electric vehicles can make them range- and usability-competitive with petroleum-powered ones. The only real question is how long of a timeline that's going to take to happen based on where you live and drive.

Yep

It kind of surprises me that none so far have pursued the full size "Ute" market segment that they do in Australia. Functional SUV with passenger suspension and a short bed in back.

Short bed crew cabs take a stab at it, but still have full truck suspension even though they never even see dirt.