If you’re in a meeting with top automotive executives these days it seems like you can’t swing a dead cat over your head without hitting somebody standing up and announcing they are coming out, or have come out, with a diesel for their new truck. Seriously, diesel-powered pickup trucks appear to be overwhelming the American marketplace and everyone looks like they are jumping on the band wagon. That is except Toyota. Although there has been talk of a diesel-powered Tundra, Toyota Tacoma chief engineer Mike Sweers has said no when it comes to the truck he is in charge of.

Why? As Sweers told AutoGuide.com, “We will not be offering a diesel engine. We’ve looked at diesels, and diesel is a difficult topic right now because of the new Tier 3 emission regulations.” The Tier 3 regulations are a federal mandate issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to all vehicle manufacturers in the United States, including those that make trucks and cars.

Sweers continued, “The downside to diesel is the emissions has to be certified at the same level as a gas engine. So the way to do that is you have to put on an after-treatment system.” That after-treatment system could add as much as $3,000 to the Tacoma’s price. “If we consider that cost, versus the fuel economy improvement, and the fact that diesel is $1 more per gallon than gasoline, is there a return on the investment?”

The guy has a point. Not only would there be a premium on top of the truck for the diesel engine in the first place, but with the estimated $3,000 add-on for the after-treatment system, the sky high price of diesel these days, and the lack of a huge overall cost benefit to the customer who switches to diesel, it may not make sense to offer a diesel-powered Tacoma to the American customer at this time.