Good Evening Peter,

May I also wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year.

I agree entirely with everything you have said and also wonder which way the auto industry will go. We have seen LPG come and go and electrically powered engines have been with us for about 10yrs and not taken off. However, we are where we are and I think the DPF technology will be part of the diesel engine for the foreseeable future. As you say, smaller more efficient petrol engines may well be the way forward and they have come a long way in terms of performance and efficiency especially when you look at small engined vehicles of 20 yrs ago which had the performance of a slug compared to what we have today. Diesels became more popular when diesel fuel was cheaper than petrol and fuel economy was also vastly superior. I think the corner was turned when turbos were fitted and diesels became less noisier and smellier than what they were.

I would assume the rest of Europe and USA are having the same issues with DPF's and I also wonder why LPG didn't take off bearing in mind it is slightly half the cost of diesel.

Still, we will see what February brings in terms of the MOT and DPF's and in the long term, once the public become fully aware of the replacement costs and maintenance issues of DPF's, I fear that the diesel engine for the motorist will be a thing of the past.

Regards

Pete