Andrew, those GM Diesels in the early 80s ruined the reputation for Diesel cars in America. They were a colossal failure. Weak, loud, smokey, and very unreliable. GM didn't even TRY to do a second-generation auto-diesel program. They killed it, and tried to make the memories of those diesels go away.
The Mercedes Turbo Diesels of the same period had a cult-like following. A small number of Americans loved them, but overall, they were the butt of a lot of jokes. Besides, back then, Mercedes cars had two strikes against them -- they were "furin", and they were for rich people.
Even the Mercedes diesel back then spewed a lot of nasty, smelly black soot.
CD