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I know it has to do with environmental regulations, but I truly do not understand why we cannot have the same engine options here as in EU countries. The EU has tough environmental regulations as well, correct?
As long as we don't also have to have EU fuel prices. But then again, I guess you can't have the best of both worlds, right?
I think Chrysler/ Jeep hit the nail on the head with the KJ CRD in the US. If a consumer wanted to buy a diesel-engine vehicle, their choices prior to the KJ were very few - 3/4 ton or larger domestic pickup, a huge Excursion or full-size van, or a VW Toureg V10 TDI. (all of whom offer fuel mileage in the mid-to-high teens) On the far other end of the spectrum, a VW Jetta or Golf (or Passat in 2004 and 2005) offering high fuel mileage, but no off-road capability. then you have the $50K+ Mercedes diesels.
With the KJ, you could get it all - (comparitively) great fuel mileage, affordability, off-road capability, towing capacity, and all in a package that still fits in the garage at night.
I, in part, blame the culture of the Big 3 automakers. Of course, we have all talked about the short-sightedness and failure to recognize the KJ CRD as a profit center, etc. But recently, NPR was doing a series of segments about the Big 3, and they mentioned a man (I cannot remember his name) who was responsible for "stratifying" the GM lineup - where Chevy was the entry line, then Pontiac, then Buick, up to Cadillac, etc. This fellow was also responsible for instituting the idea of "planned obsolescence." the business plan where you design a vehicle to need replacement after a 3 to 7 year time span.
In short, I think diesel-engine options are seen, or have been seen, as a threat to the corporate business plan of "planned obsolescence" in America. How can a consumer be ready to replace a vehicle in 5 years that has a 15-year+ lifespan? How can the Big 3 establish pricing for a vehicle that way, when every other vehicle they offer in their lineup is designed and engineered out of this culture? Simply put, they cannot.
So. if that is the case, the resistance is not to diesel engines per se, but the resistance is to change, pure and simple. To change is to admit that your way is not already the best; human pride, made a cultural institution in a corporation, simply cannot allow that until all other options or imminent failure is the unavoidable . They made that bed, and now they are lying in it. We've seen other automakers be successful, even lucratively so, in the US market by offering cars that did not fall under the culture of planned obsolescence - Toyota and Honda come to mind. It is a crying shame, and a failure of culture, that over 30 years of rustbucket crappy products (yes I know that is a generalization) and declining market share, these large American corporations still only constantly sought the Band-Aid, the quick fix, to stop the hemmoraging rather than run the risk of a top-to-bottom shakup and realigning of culture.
So, it is still short-sightedness, it is still stupidity and poor management, but I think it is something to do with the reason as to why. (Steps off soapbox)
_________________ In this war of lines, so many have been crossed. Where will it all stop? 2006 Deep Beryl Green CRD Sport *SOLD 1/22/12*Provent, V6 Airbox, Fumoto, Samcos, GDE ECO & TCM Tune, Euro JK TC, Magnaflow Catback 245/70/16 Destination A/T's Boiler's Radiator Skid PlateJeepin' By Al 2.5 inch Adjust-A-Strut Lift, JBA Gen 4.5 UCA's (6/5/10) 
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