By the time I found out they had even made diesel Chevettes,mini-pickups,or Escorts, they weren’t.The diesel premium on a new VW on top of the VW price was/is too much for me. GM could have done much better with the diesel conversion of the mid-70s Olds ,etc.;instead GM skimped and made a diesel that established the idea that diesels are only for big trucks.
When are you talking about? In recent years, VW's diesel price premium was $200-300.
The forthcoming diesels may be a bit more, though, due to the Bluetec exhaust treatment. Although, I think that's still relatively inexpensive.