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While I like the idea of CVTs, having torque converter is a killer. Hopefully someone will come out with one that uses an automatic clutch instead, in that configuration it would probably do better than a manual for a 'normal' driver.
Here in NZ the price gap for a diesel Toyota is getting much closer to the petrol versions, which is amazing considering that the engines are shipped from the factory in Turkey to Japan just for the NZ market. At launch the price gap was about $7000NZ ($5000US/3200GBP), whereas now it is only $2000-3500NZ. I see several Prii a day, and maybe one D4D Corolla a week, and considering that the Prius is $12000NZ more expensive than a Diesel Corolla Hatch (with pretty similar FE), I think people are willing to pay a extra for that "green" image, even if it isn't really there.
As the Prius has the green image already, if Toyota marketed a diesel version as being more so, it'd sell like hotcakes.
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