The average diesel engine premium, meanwhile, currently is just $2,360.

I think comparing hybrids and diesels solely on the basis of payback is kind of silly...

If you think electric cars will save the day when it comes to automakers meeting new government fuel-mileage regulations, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne begs to differ.

He says the big improvements will come in more efficient diesel and gasoline engines. The Associated Press reports from Traverse City, Mich., where Marchionne gave a speech, that electric vehicles are being overhyped.

Guys like Marchionne are spending a lot of time thinking about such issues right now. They are trying figure out how to cope with the 54.5 mile-per-gallon corporate average fuel economy standard announced last Friday. It slowly goes into effect leading up to 2025. It's bad enough that Marchionne has to figure out how to get Chrysler to 35.5 mpg by 2016 when divisions like Dodge are rooted in advertising their big American performance vehicles.

The anti-diesel sentiment in the U.S. is eroding fast, according to component and auto-technology supplier Bosch.

The company's data show that 32% of consumers said last year they would consider a diesel vehicle, up from just 12% in 2006, according to Lars Ullrich, director of marketing for Bosch Diesel Systems North America.

That seems to match behavior. When a vehicle is available with a diesel, 33% choose the diesel version, he says.

Diesels get about 30% better fuel economy than similar gasoline models, though diesels do best on the highway and are less-impressive on city mpg. The problem is that lots of makers are still withholding their diesel engines from the U.S. market. Ullrich thinks the diesel tide will turn. "An avalanche of clean diesels coming into the market," should boost diesel vehicle sales, Ulrich says. "That makes us very optimistic."

Poster car for U.S. diesels is the Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen. About 85% are sold with diesels. The car's image as a practical vehicle begs for the fuel economy and pulling power of a diesel, and that combination appeals to practical-minded U.S. buyers. It starts at $26,030, or $1,250 more than the similar gasoline version.

VW sells more U.S. diesels than any other maker: Golf, 55% diesel; Touareg SUV, about 50%; Jetta sedan, about 25%. VW says overall diesel sales in 2011 were up 14% vs. 2010.

He discussed the U.S. diesel market in an interview at the Washington, D.C., auto show recently.

He forecasts that the number of vehicles in which diesel engines are available will double to 50 the next two or three years. Some he must keep secret because of agreements with automakers that Bosch supplies. He cited these as evidence that the U.S. no longer is hugely hostile to diesel power:

Chevrolet Cruze is to offer a diesel option next year. General Motors CEO Dan Akerson disclosed that tidbit in an interview with Drive On last summer.
Jeep Grand Cherokee adds a diesel version next year, prompting parent Chrysler Group to add 1,100 jobs at the Jefferson North factory in Detroit to build them. Ullrich didn't say so, but it's fair to speculate that the mechanically similar Dodge Durango could be in line for a diesel, as well.
Cadillac ATS, the brand's new, small rival to BMW 3-series, gets a diesel during the car's first generation, GM President of the Americas Mark Reuss says. ATS is coming this summer as a 2013 model. Reuss didn't say just when a diesel would join.
Mazda plans a North American diesel next year as part of its Skyactiv suite of fuel-saving technology. Mazda's being cagey about what vehicle will offer it.
Chrysler plans a new version of the discontinued Dakota pickup in 2016 and will include a diesel, Ullrich says. Chrysler's product plan shows no direct Dakota replacement, but does show a unibody-design mid-size pickup (think Honda Ridgeline) is possible.
Why diesel popularity hasn't grown faster:

Higher vehicle prices: $1,000 to $2,000 more expensive than a similar gasoline model is typical.
Higher fuel prices: About 3.89 a gallon vs. $3.43 for gasoline, according to data published by AAA travel organization. Why? Because federal tax on diesel is 6 cents a gallon more than on gasoline. Because demand for diesel is global; it's the common fuel -- not gasoline -- in many countries. Because diesel is similar enough to heating oil and other petroleum products that it has to fight for refinery space. In winter, when homeowners in the northeast burn heating oil, there's less refinery capacity for diesel.
Prejudice: Many people still think diesel exhaust is smoky, black, smelly. In today's diesel cars, it isn't. Some people still have bad memories, or have heard horror stories, about unreliable GM diesels in the 1970s and 1980s. GM is so sure that'll never happen again that it'll be first among the Detroit 3 to field a diesel car when it launches the Cruze diesel.
Odor: Though diesel exhaust no longer stinks, the fuel still does.
Fuel stations: There's some fear, generally unfounded, that it's hard to find diesel fuel. More than 40% of stations carry it, though that includes truck stops.

Prejudice: Many people still think diesel exhaust is smoky, black, smelly. In today's diesel cars, it isn't. Some people still have bad memories, or have heard horror stories, about unreliable GM diesels in the 1970s and 1980s. GM is so sure that'll never happen again that it'll be first among the Detroit 3 to field a diesel car when it launches the Cruze diesel.
Odor: Though diesel exhaust no longer stinks, the fuel still does.