Palladium this month reached its most expensive price in 15 years when it rallied to within $100/oz of its platinum-group-metals stablemate. The price divergence is the result of dalliance in the automotive industry, with the diesel vehicle market, where platinum features strongly, facing headwinds, and the petrol- vehicle market, where palladium features strongly, racing in strong tailwinds. To blame is Volkswagen understating the diesel emissions of its cars, which has raised widespread antidiesel sentiment, which has brought pain to platinum and gain to palladium.