CHICAGO, (April 6, 2004) — With gasoline prices shooting to record levels in the U.S., government energy policy should actively encourage the mileage and emissions benefits made possible by diesel technology, according to Navistar International’s chief executive officer.

Speaking before the Executives Club of Chicago, Dan Ustian, cited diesel’s advantages to gasoline on both mileage and global warming, and called it “the fuel of the future.” Navistar is the parent company of International Truck and Engine.

“We deliberately chose diesel over gasoline in the mid-1980s as the technology for the engines, trucks and school buses, we produce,” Ustian said. “Our reasons for that decision keep looking better and better.”

Ustian noted that in addition to diesel engines’ advantages in durability, torque and safety, they are inherently more efficient than gasoline, offering 25 per cent to 60 per cent better mileage, depending on the application.

In addition, Ustian said, emissions of particulate matter (PM) have been reduced to near zero as a result of tough new regulations mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency. “By 2010, diesel will be equal to or better than gasoline in every key category of emissions,” Ustian said. He said today’s emissions are already so low that a white handkerchief held to the tailpipe of an operating International Green Diesel Technology school bus invariably comes away clean and odorless.

Citing diesel’s benefits to consumers, businesses and the environment, Ustian advocated increased use of diesel as a desirable goal of U.S. national energy policy, adding that North America can reduce its dependence on imported oil, improve vehicle mileage, and reduce CO2 emissions.