Fuel-efficiency, The Slogan To Push Vehicles

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Published: Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 14:26 [IST]

At a time when the fuel cost is on the frequent hike spree, the car makers are making strategies to focus fuel-efficiency as the prime factor. The manufacturers are designing their cars with utmost fuel efficiency in a bid to grab more customers. Already, there is a scheme in the auto industry, which portrays the success of vehicles on fuel efficiency. Maruti Alto is gaining popularity on its efficiency to offer 19.7 km/lit and this has been its main element of success for the last ten years. Maruti employs low-combustion engine for this purpose and recently it introduced Kseries engine (which offers 20.2km/lit) to counter the competitions. Hyundai, for its part, has redesigned its i10 hatchback with a new 1.2 lit engine for providing the customers with 20.36km/lit mileage and the company boasts this car to be the most fuel-efficient in the small car sector. The company"s Director for sales and marketing said that the new engine is tuned to deliver a balanced elements of performance, power and economy.

The strategy to revise the engine for fuel economy is to woo the customers globally as happening in China. The Chinese car market is facing a stipulated cars with a minimum mileage of 15km/lit and in Australia and Japan it is fixed as 18.5km/lit and 15km/lit before 2012. The current scene in the auto industry is that the car makers are devising the engines with same power output but with enhanced fuel efficiency. Volkswagen"s Polo and Nissan Micra are offering 18km/lit mileage which is a higher level than Maruti Ritz which gives 17.7km/lit and Tata Indica Xeta"s 16.8km/lit. VW said its prime factor prior to launching the Polo was to test the fuel efficiency and subsequently fixed the proper engine for better mileage. Even Tata"s Nano is tuned to give 23.7km/lit while its Indigo CS consumes 23km/lit, making it the most fuel efficient sedan in the country. This made the sale hike to 34,988 units during April-August this year against 15,078 units in the same period last year. The focus-shift is an outcome of the failures from Maruti Gypsy, Fiat Palio and Ford Mondeo which offered the poorest fuel economy in the Indian roads.

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Article Published On: Wednesday, September 29, 2010, 14:14 [IST]

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