May 09 2014
Since the 1997 debut of Toyota's Prius hybrid, the prevailing wisdom has held that hybrids equal good fuel economy, and the car with the best fuel economy today is indeed Toyota's Aqua hybrid, at 37 kilometers per liter. The marriage of a car engine with electric motors, however, requires expensive technology, which in turn pushes up the sticker price. Consumers are concerned about fuel economy everywhere, not just in Japan. However, with prices hundreds of thousands of yen higher than for equivalent conventional gasoline engine models, hybrids haven't caught on overseas the way they have domestically. For example, hybrids made up some 40 percent of Toyota's domestic sales in 2013, but just 14 percent of foreign sales.
Japanese used cars dealer are producing light, gasoline engine vehicles that get more than 30 kilometers per liter -- putting them close to hybrid territory -- and are locked in a research and development race to push even regular passenger cars over the 30 kilometers per liter hump.
A Mitsubishi Motors representative told the Mainichi Shimbun, "Improving fuel economy in conventional vehicles won't just improve our prospects in Japan, but in emerging markets as well." The company's Mirage is built in Thailand and shipped to markets around the world, making it part of Mitsubishi's global strategy."Consumers in emerging nations demand both low sticker prices and good fuel economy," Nomura Securities Co. analyst Masataka Kunugimoto told the Mainichi. "Apart from hybrid vehicles, improved technology for conventional gasoline engine-powered cars is the key to expanding market share."
The current fuel economy champion among all gasoline engine cars is Suzuki Motor Corp.'s Alto Eco light vehicle, at 35 kilometers per liter. Including the development of an even more efficient engine announced in April and measures to lighten their cars, Suzuki is looking to boost its fuel economy lead over rival carmakers every way it can.
"Saving energy is the eternal mission of us automakers," commented Suzuki's Executive Vice President Osamu Honda.
Japanese Used Cars Exporter is putting serious emphasis on fuel economy not only to attract domestic consumers looking to buy a conventional vehicle instead of a more expensive hybrid, but also because they're looking to put fuel-saving technology to work to win market share in emerging economies overseas.
In April this year, Toyota Motor Corp. launched Passo and Vitz compact cars with new engines that get 10-30 percent better fuel economy than their predecessors. With its new engine, the Passo now achieves 27.6 kilometers per liter -- the top fuel economy of any regular, non-hybrid passenger car and better than the previous champion, Mitsubishi Motors Corp.'s Mirage, by 0.4 kilometers.In the new engine, Toyota changed the shapes of the intake ducts and exhaust valves. It also incorporated new technology to control the combustion chamber's internal temperature to help prevent "abnormal combustion," a major cause of lowered fuel economy. This engine will also be going into the new Vitz (called the Yaris in overseas markets) worldwide, starting when it goes on-sale in Europe this summer.
