One key issue for both companies is the ability to meet the voracious European demand for diesel-powered cars.
Because diesel engines are still most common in trucks, many people assume that diesel-powered cars would behave like a truck behaves: slow and sluggish.
TAKE it from someone who spent a childhood in the backseat of diesel-powered cars: they stunk.
Diesel always has been lead-free and the only adjustments you need to make are mental ones, because diesel-powered cars are no longer slow, smelly or noisy.
Not only is diesel much less expensive at the pumps, especially in France and Italy, but purchase tax on diesel-powered cars is reduced.
They also determined that a diesel-powered car can run on used cooking oil though they did not check whether it damaged the engine.
A leading reason for Europe's boom in diesel-powered cars is their tax treatment.
Where will the hydrogen-boosted gas engine fit in with other fuel-saving technologies like hybrid cars, E85 ethanol-powered vehicles, and new clean diesel-powered cars.
The diesel versions were very popular, and the 406 became one of Europe's best-selling diesel-powered cars.
The relatively high sulfur levels in diesel have been a significant obstacle to producing diesel-powered cars that met federal environmental standards.