It’s found that modern cars give slightly more fuel efficiency than old cars. This is practically proved in a report by the journal of Energy Policy published in United States. The study was conducted recently on vehicles manufactured from 1923 to 2006. The report reveals that since 1920 there has been a little progress in fuel efficiency statistics. Researchers unveiled that the overall fuel economy of vehicles in United States in 1923 was 5.9 km/l. But in 2006, the average fuel efficiency was 17.3 km/l.
They found that overall fuel efficiency decreased to 5 km/l in 1973 from the earlier 5.9 km/l in 1923. However, there was a rapid improvement by 1991 when cars reported 7.1 km/l of fuel efficiency. Also, from 1991 to 2006 the improvement was less than 2 percent compared to earlier years. Whereas, fuel efficiency of cars improved from 5.6 km/l in 1973 to 9 km/l in 1991, but after 1991 there was only a marginal improvement of 9.5 km/l in 2006.
Though car manufacturers have introduced many engines that consume less fuel, it has been noted that still some of the modern cars consume same amount of fuel as old cars. They should stress more to bring in new technologies in the car industry that ensure improved mileage.
Labels: Car-Manufacturers, Fuel-efficiency, old-cars
Gone are the days of old car engines that were filled with clean petrol fuel. Here comes the era of biofuel with the new biofuel policy announced in the country.
Some of you must be aware that since a long time the Indian Government is planning to make the entire range of Indian cars compliant to strict emissions norms. The time has finally come when the new policy has compelled car manufacturers to shift gears to comply with the new policy that states compulsory blending of 10% biofuels with petrol by the end of 2012. With such a standard, it would really be difficult to have all the present generation cars on roads after 2012.
Cars that are E10 and E20 compatible have the power and strength to run on such fuel but what about the remaining Indian cars? You would be even more surprised to know that even Maruti Suzuki doesn’t have any such cars that can follow the guidelines of the new policy. Though the company is making efforts to roll out a car that can run on blended fuel but nothing is yet confirmed.
For General Motors, there is nothing to worry. Infact, why should they worry if they have E10 compatible cars in India? They are now trying to bring their E 20 engine technology to India. Other car manufacturers are silently responding to the wait and watch policy…waiting for the final nod to watch the alterations in the engines of their respective car models.
Don’t you think that this year is really tough for the Indian car market?
Labels: Bio-Fuel, General-Motors, Indian-cars, Maruti-Suzuki, old-cars
Despite a competitive market and a negative slope in the car sales, car manufacturers are not kicking off their old car models while launching new cars.
Car manufacturers think that old cars along with new or revamped models help to add strength to the existing car volumes. This also gives an opportunity to the consumers to have wider choices at different prices. Let’s take the example of the recently launched Tata Indica Vista, a revamped version of old Indica. After the launch, the company has only phased out few variants of the old and the rest are still there is the market but with a reduced price tag. Skoda’s Octavia and Laura also share the same story where no brakes have been applied to the selling of old model after the launch of new one.
Not only Tata and Skoda, other car manufacturers like the Ford India, General Motors and Mitsubishi are also following the same trend. According to the industry sources, after the launch of Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Optra will be retained at a lower price. Even a new version of Ford Ikon is to be rolled out but the older version will stay back.
This is one of the best ways to boost volumes and is also considered to be a common trend in developed markets where both old and new cars are sold at different price segments for incremental sales.
But in this era of falling sales, will this common trend succeed? Will car manufacturers win success by selling both old and new together?
Labels: Car-Manufacturers, Car-Sales, old-cars
During this time of inflation and high interest rate, car sales is declining. In a step to boost car sales, Maruti Suzuki rides on new cars and drives back the old.
Maruti Suzuki comes up with an exchange offer to push luxury car sales. The company is turning their heads towards 15-20 years old cars that are either not working or are in a very bad condition, cars that don’t serve the purpose to their owners. With such an effort Maruti is luring customers to exchange their old useless cars of any model or make for new Maruti cars.
The exchange of old for new is the latest marketing strategy by Maruti with a firm belief that the offer will push car sales. In order to reap more benefits, the company has also tied up with scrap dealers across India who will help the company to dispose of old cars and give a discount offer of about Rs 40,000 to customers. Apart from selling new for old, the company is also inviting bids for old cars from scrap dealers in various cities.
Sometimes it is really difficult to understand the actual motive behind the offers produced by various companies. Most of the car manufacturers give such kind of exchange offers. These manufacturers revamp the old cars and sell it in the market. But will 15-20 years old cars give the actual return even after revamping and refurbishing?
Labels: Maruti-Suzuki, old-cars, Used-car- Market
