The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic is a sleek five-passenger hatchback that gets 65 mpg and can be fitted with a navigation system. It's an appealing mid-priced car, but it's only available in Europe; we can't buy it in the U.S. As MSN Money reports, Ford won't bring it here because they think it won't sell for exactly one reason: it runs on diesel.

That sentiment isn't exactly shared by other automakers as of late. For example, Mercedes and Volkswagen are pursuing the idea of clean diesel, which has emissions levels comparable to regular gas cars along with superior fuel economy. But the article said that the high taxes on diesel fuel—aimed at commercial trucks—combined with diesel's poor reputation and the Prius's runaway success have all conspired to limit the appeal of even the latest clean diesel engines.

"Americans see hybrids as the darling," said Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old tech." Meanwhile, James N. Hall, of auto researcher 293 Analysts, said in the report that California and the Northeast remain "hostile to diesel," even with the new cars. I'd say it's too early to call the whole thing off; plenty of other manufacturers are racing to release clean diesels here in the U.S.