The Beetle TDI is expected to offer 29 mpg (8.11 l/100 km) in city driving and 39 mpg (6 l/100 km) on the highway.

It will be offered as a 2013 model and is the first diesel Beetle (Käfer in German) since 2006.

Buyers will have a choice of a six-speed manual or dual-clutch DSG transmission as well as three trim levels.

Volkswagen offers diesel engines in its Golf, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat, and Touareg models and more than 20% of buyers opt for the oilburner.

According to figures provided by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the market share for diesel-powered automobiles in the United Kingdom in 2011 was a record 50.6%.  This represents a substantial increase over 2010, when the figure was 46.1%.

A total of 981,594 diesels were sold in 2011.  Sales in 2010 were 936,406.

Alternate-fuel vehicles (AFV) also recorded record sales. Total sales of AFVs were 25,456, or 1.3%, up from 1.1% in 2010.

For the first time, sales of gasoline-powered cars dipped below the 50% mark to 47.6%

Another bright spot for eco conscious buyers: average new car CO₂ emissions fell to a new low of 138.1g/km in 2011, down 4.2% from the 2010 level.

Overall, sales in the UK were down 4.4% but Paul Everitt, the SMMT’s chief executive, said that “significantly improved fuel efficiency and exciting new technologies” should help the auto industry rebound by 2013.

The SMMT is the voice of the UK’s automobile industry, promotes the industry to government and media, and collects and distributes market data including new-car registrations

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The Skyactiv-D 2.2 is the first diesel-powered automobile to meet Japan’s stringent new emissions standards without requiring urea after-treatment technology to reduce nitrogen oxide, which can add significantly to the cost of a diesel automobile.

Mazda is expected to offer the engine in the new CX-5 crossover in Japan and this model is likely to be the automaker’s first U.S. diesel as well  The 2.2-liter I-4 develops 310 pound-feet of torque and it used 5.34  l/100 km (44 mpg) in the Japanese JC08 fuel economy testing cycle.

Mazda has been planning to bring in diesels to the U.S. for several years.  At the 2010 New York Auto Show, Takashi Yamanouchi, CEO of the automaker, pointed out that the Skyactive-D engine provides fuel economy “better than today’s mid-sized hybrids.”

The BMW ActiveE is outwardly similar to the BMW 1 Series Coupe and is built at the BMW Werk Leipzig.    The heart of the ActiveE is a permanent-magnet synchronous motor that develops 170 hp and 184 pound-feet of torque. It can go from zero to 60 mph in under nine seconds and its range is 100 miles (160 km) on a full charge of its newly-developed lithium-ion batteries.  The entire power pack – including power electronics and transmission with differential – is integrated into the car’s modified rear-axle support.

BMW refers to its ActiveE customers as Electronauts and BMW will deliver ActiveEs to 699 additional Electronauts in the coming weeks.  The ActiveE is being offered in Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, New York City, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco for $499 per month for a 24-month lease, with a down payment of $2,250.

The ActiveE has a special Eco Pro Mode that provides increased range.  By throwing a switch, the vehicle’s characteristics are changed.  The accelerator will deliver less power and the heating and air conditioning systems will use less energy.  The system also provides the driver with additional tips on how to drive in the most energy-efficient manner.

The eDrive display replaces the tachometer on the instrument cluster and displays the amount of energy being taken from the battery or the current amount being supplied to it through recuperation.  The needle will rest in the middle position when the car is not moving, indicating that the vehicle is ready to drive, presuming the battery is charged sufficiently.  The car’s on-board computer displays the remaining vehicle range.

On the car’s Central Information Display (CID), eDrive displays vehicle energy flow using an active schematic representation of the vehicle to do so.  The driver can view the CID in split-screen mode with route guidance or infotainment information on one side.

The Moloughneys drove their Mini E over 72,500 miles in 30 months.  “Calling the Moloughneys ‘Pioneers’ is very appropriate because they have shown the world that an electric vehicle can absolutely serve one’s daily driving needs without compromise,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO of BMW of North America. “We are pleased that Tom and Meredith have agreed to stay with us on this journey.”

Toyota sees the “c” as its city car both in size and fuel economy.  Its fuel economy is actually better in urban areas than on the highway, where it gets 46 mpg (5.11 l/100 km).   The “c” is 157.3” long versus 176.4” for the 2012 Prius.

To fit the Hybrid Synergy Drive from the Prius into the smaller c platform, Toyota had to redesign the system’s major components to reduce both weight and size.

Toyota plans a list price of under $19,000 and this includes a standard 3.5” color TFT multi-information display, Bluetooth telephony, and a USB port with iPod connectivity.  A Display Audio system with navigation and Entune is optional.  A multi-function steering wheel controls audio, telephone, and climate systems.  Keyless start-stop allows the driver open the door and start the vehicle without having to take the key out of his pocket.

The Prius c is powered by a 1.5-liter I-4 that develops 73 hp and 82 pound-feet of torque in combination with an electric motor for a total of 99 hp.  The Hybrid Synergy Drive integrates the engine, motor, a 144 volt nickel-metal hydride battery, an inverter, a DC-DC converter, a step-up converter, a hybrid control computer, and a continuously variable transmission.

Three driving modes are available, normal, eco, and EV (electric vehicle).  The c can go up to one mile on electric power alone.

The 2013 Audi A8 TDI will come with the turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that develops 225 hp and 406 pound-feet of torque in the Audi Q7.

The A8 will become the second full-sized luxury sedan available in the U.S., alongside the Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec, and leaves BMW as the only premium German automaker without a full-sized diesel sedan.

The A8 diesel will have similar standard and optional equipment to the current V-8 powered A8 4.2, which starts at $78,750.  The Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec starts at $92,550.

EPA fuel economy for the S-Klasse is 20 mpg (11.76 l/100 km) in the city and 31 mpg (7.58 l/100 km) on the highway.

It will be interesting to see what the EPA rating for the Audi A8 TDI will be. In the EU cycle, the Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec sold in Germany used 10.1 l/100 km (23.28 mpg) in the city and 5.9 l/100 km (39.86 mpg) on the highway.  The German Audi A8 TDI used 7.4 l/100 km (31.78 mpg) in the city and 6.0 l/100 km (39.2 mpg) on the highway. While the two cars are comparable in highway fuel economy, the Audi used roughly 25% less fuel in town.

Start-stop technology will be standard on the new Audi diesel and it will be available with the optional Audi connect infotainment system which incorporates Google Earth maps and real-time SiriusXM traffic information, localized weather, news, real-time fuel prices, Google Local Search, support for Google Send to Car via the myAudi Destination feature, and an in-vehicle hotspot that supports up to eight Wi-Fi devices.

The ATS is built on a new, rear-wheel-drive platform and is eight inches shorter than the Cadillac CTS.  It continues the automaker’s Art & Science design language with a mixture of angular lines and flat surfaces.  It has 50/50 weight distribution and uses GM’s Magnetic Ride Control.

Cadillac sees the ATS as a competitor for the BMW 3er Series and the Audi A4. At the launch, Mark Reuss, GM’s North American President, said that the new sedan will be “the most mass-efficient car in the segment.”

Three engines will be offered for 2013.  The base engine is a 2.5-liter I-4, developing 200 hp and 188 pound-feet of torque.  Optional are a turbocharged 2.0-liter I-4 and turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6.  Transmission choices include a six-speed manual or automatic.  Both rear- and all-wheel-drive will be available.

Cadillac was the first U.S. automaker to offer a diesel back in the late 70s but the 5.7-liter V-8 engines suffered from poor reliability and tarnished the reputation of diesels for generations to come.

The cause was polycystic kidney disease and complications stemming from a subsequent kidney transplant, said his brother Jonathan Spira, who is also a co-founder of the two publications.

In 1991, two years before the invention of the first Web browser, Mr. Spira founded the Internet Baseball Awards.  He was considered an important pioneer in Usenet online baseball discussion groups including rec.sport.baseball, and helped found Baseball Prospectus, a Web site that focuses on the sabermetric analysis of baseball.

While primarily known as a researcher, Mr. Spira published two groundbreaking articles, “The Boys of Late Summer,” examining the differences between players born in August versus the 11 other months of the year (“The lesson: If you want your child to be a professional baseball player, you should start planning early. Very early. As in before conception”) in Slate magazine, and “Pitching to the Score,” a piece that examined whether some pitchers “pitch to the score” to win versus simply allowing the fewest number of runs possible, in Baseball Prospectus 1997.

His final article appeared today in Frequent Business Traveler on the topic of buying books online.

Mr. Spira, with Sean Forman, created the BaseballBooks.net site in 2001, and served as an editor and researcher for a variety of books and publications including Maple Street Mets Annual (2008-11), Ultimate Yankees Companion (2008), USA Today Sports Weekly’s Best Baseball Writing 2005, ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia (2004-08), and Sports Illustrated Sports Almanac (2000-01).

Mr. Spira was a thoughtful and fastidious editor whose goal was always clarity and logic. He had a unique style of editing that pulled no punches in getting his thoughts across.

“His curiosity, his need for information, was virtually unquenchable,” said his brother Jonathan, whose book on Information Overload was published last year. “His ability to assimilate information was unsurpassed. His ability to draw conclusions and see around corners that other people didn’t see was particularly unparalleled.”

Mr. Spira also inherited his parents’ love of books and collecting bug and had assembled a voluminous library of contemporary sports books that numbers in the thousands.

Greg Andrew Spira was born in New York City on April 27, 1967 to S. Franklin and Marilyn Spira.  His mother was a magazine editor; his father, known as Fred, was the founder of Spiratone, a company that became the largest retailer of photographic accessories in the U.S. by the 1980s.

Mr. Spira graduated from Bayside High School in 1985 third in his class and magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1989.

Besides his brother, Jonathan, Mr. Spira is survived by his mother, Marilyn.

In memory of Mr. Spira, Accura Media Group, publisher of Frequent Business Traveler and The Diesel Driver, will donate airline miles to one of several charities including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation for each new subscriber to its new weekly Frequent Business Traveler newsletter that Greg helped create, with a goal of donating at least 100,000 miles.  There is no charge for a subscription.

Photo: Greg Spira (right) with his brother, Jonathan, at his graduation from Harvard. Photo by Fred Spira.

The automaker currently offers a Grand Cherokee diesel as an export model and it is likely that U.S. buyers will see a version of the same engine offered in other markets.

That engine is a 3.0-liter V-6 turbo-charged diesel which develops 237 hp and 405 pound-feet of torque.  The EU cycle rates fuel economy at 27 mpg (8.71 l/100 km) in the city and 39 mpg (6.03 l/100 km) on the highway.

The stories range from the first in-depth review of the new 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI to ongoing reports on our BMW 335d long-term test car, to a preview of the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec.

Enjoy the retrospective.

1.)        2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI – Review and First Drive/Road Test
Our review of two days with the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI at its June launch in Chattanooga

2.)        2011 Volkswagen Jetta – First Review
Join us at the launch of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta and Jetta TDI in San Francisco and spend two days driving in Northern California with us.

3.)        BMW 335d Three-Month Test Report and Review
Our first three months with our BMW 335d long-term test car, starting with delivery at the BMW Welt and an in-depth look at its great fuel economy, superb handling, and road manners.

4.)        2011 Volkswagen Touareg TDI Review and Road Test
We spend a week with the new Touareg, learn to pronounce the name (it’s “twah-reg”), and begin to understand why so many Touareg buyers opt for the diesel version.

5.)        2012 Diesel Car Lineup in the U.S. – What’s New
A look at what’s new in 2012, including the Mercedes-Benz S350 BlueTec and the Volkswagen Passat TDI.

6.)        BMW 335d 12-Month Report and Review
Like a good novel, readers flocked to see how the BMW 335d fared after 12 months and 10,000 km.

7.)        2011 Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI – Review and Test Drive
A week with Volkswagen’s Jetta SportWagen TDI – 80% of JSW buyers go diesel!

8.)        2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec Diesel Review and First Look
A week with the Mercedes-Benz E350 BlueTec prior to its launch – and a drive from New York City to Boston and back using only half a tank – helped firm up our decision to add the E-Klasse to our long-term test fleet

9.)        2012 Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTec First Look and Review
Our review of the new ML Class diesel at its launch in Montana’s rugged outback

10.)      2011 BMW X3 Review and Road Test – The Road to Berchtesgaden
We drive the new BMW X3 xDrive20d to Berchtesgaden to take in the views.