With carmakers Toyota and Honda seen as the leaders of green car production you might think that Japan’s motoring industry is immune from the recent economic crisis – however, new figures suggest differently.

Just days after we reported that Japan’s motoring industry had forecasted a decline, new figures have been released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) showing that total production of cars, trucks and buses in the country for domestic sales as well as export dropped by 20.4 per cent in November year-on-year.

This was the second consecutive month of year-on-year production decreases and the largest monthly on-year decline since JAMA began compiling data back in 1967. Vehicle exports in November 2008 were just 491,990 units – that’s down 18.1 per cent compared with units recorded in the same month of the previous year.

Standard cars with a displacement greater than 2.0 litres suffered the sharpest production drop – slumping 34.1 per cent year-on-year. By contrast, standard cars showed a 26.3 per cent drop in exports.

However, compared to the rest of the flagging motoring industry the overall news for Japan is still comparatively good. For the period stretching from January-November 2008, production is still up two per cent compared to the previous year and exports are still 6.6 per cent higher.

In terms of the individual car manufacturers, Toyota reported a 27.7 per cent drop in production year-on-year in November; Nissan said production slumped by 35.6 per cent; Daihatsu saw production drop by 3.6 per cent; Mitsubishi production fell by 26.6 per cent; Suzuki saw production drop by 7.3 per cent; and Hino saw production drop 25 per cent. Only Honda escaped relatively unscathed with a production drop of 3.9 per cent.

 Debates may still be raging about the long-term viability of green cars in the USA now that gas prices have slumped by around 50 per cent from their 2008 highs, but it appears that young people at least are getting the message.

The University of Denver has implemented a new programme designed to encourage students and staff to drive green cars in what is a campus-wide effort to make the school more sustainable.

The incentive revolves around parking – something that can be difficult and expensive at the best of times for students on campus. Now however, Denver University has designated the 12 best parking spaces on campus as spots that only green cars can use.

The hope is that it will encourage more students to buy fuel efficient vehicles – although it’s not just about fuel efficiency, it’s also about how the cars are made and produced.

These elite spots for green cars are just one of the many steps the university has undertaken to become more sustainable. It has also introduced recycling programmes and workers have started to use electric transportation to cut down on gas use. The university has even implemented a compressed natural gas pump to run an entire fleet of vehicles – currently it is the only campus in Colorado to have done so.

Claiming to be the cheapest or the fastest have been staple boasts of car manufacturers for decades – but now there is a new claim they all seek: to be the most fuel efficient.

The Ford Fusion Hybrid has established those bragging rights as it will be the most fuel-efficient midsize saloon on the market at 41mpg according to the data Ford has supplied to the Environmental Protection Agency. Indeed the Fusion hybrid will be the second most fuel efficient vehicle on US roads – leaping ahead of the Honda Civic Hybrid and falling only narrowly behind the Toyota Prius.

The Fusion is capable of 41mpg in the city and 36mpg on the highway – the boost for city driving comes from the hybrid’s ability to use the electric motor at low speeds. One of the key factors behind the vehicle’s economy rates is its air conditioners – in the Fusion, the air conditioner is electric-powered.

It’s a neat boost for the Fusion Hybrid which needed a hook given its heftier price tag compared to the conventional model – the Fusion Hybrid costs $27,000 compared to $24,000 for the regular Fusion.

With few people convinced that low petrol prices are here to stay – despite them slumping from $4 a gallon to roughly $1.61 a gallon – fuel efficiency remains one of the leading factors when people determine which vehicle is right for them.

For one of the US car manufacturers to have a market-leading vehicle is a tremendous coup as they battle back against a flagging public image after pleading their case for a bailout in front of Congress.�

 Was 2008 a false dawn for green cars? When oil prices surged to $147 a barrel, prices at the pump in the USA followed suit – gas rising to $4 a gallon. However, now it is below $2 a gallon sparking fears that the enthusiasm for alternative fuels and green cars will soon peter out.

However, this time around it is hoped that the picture may be a little different due to a broad anxiety over global warming and the arrival of President-elect Barack Obama who has made green elements one of the leading features of his economic stimulus package.

Recently a survey was conducted among 52 oil and gas executives with only around a dozen predicting that oil and gas will be America’s cheapest energy source in 25 years – three-quarters even considered it a good idea for the US to phase out fossil fuels for transportation.

The theory that “prices go up, and prices go down” no longer seems to hold the same resonance that it did before – Obama has made curbing America’s dependency on oil one of the leading features of his campaign and warned against complacency when gas prices fall.

Historically, America has found it hard to break its dependency on oil. In the early 1970s, Arab oil producers halted shipments and energy prices soared with President Nixon offering an energy plan to free the nation from its dependency on imports within a decade. The result was energy prices soared and a shock was sent to the economy – but when the embargo was lifted after a year, prices fell and Nixon’s project faded.

Now a similar cycle is in full swing. However, instead of backing off his alternative energy plan, Obama has promised to make green projects a cornerstone of his policies going forward.

Only time will tell if he can break one of history’s most consistent and worrying cycles.

 Green car funds should be for truly green cars only – that’s the verdict of one independent senator who has criticised the Australian Federal Government for committing cash to the production of petrol-powered vehicles.

Close to $180million has been committed towards Holden’s plans to build a four-cylinder car at its Elizabeth plant in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, which we first told you about here. However, South Australia senator Nick Xenophon claims the green car fund should only be used for clean or hybrid car technologies.

He claims there is “nothing green about a petrol car – you can make it more efficient but that is just fiddling at the margins.”

Xenophon has urged Holden to follow in its parent company’s footsteps and produce an electric hybrid car – General Motors is working on the production of the Chevrolet Volt to be introduced in the USA in 2010.

However, South Australia’s treasurer Kevin Foley has hit back at Xenophon’s comments suggesting that 2,000 or 3,000 families in the northern suburbs of Adelaide would lose their jobs for this pursuit of a truly green car. He believes the Government can do no more than give assistance to Holden to build a green car and secure the future of families.

What do you think about this debate? Should green car funds be committed to the production of a petrol powered car? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

 The idea of raising taxation is a taboo subject at the best of times – but according to one journalist it could be the only way to save a green car revolution.

According to the column, reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and the dependency on foreign oil requires vehicles with higher fuel efficiency as well as cars that capitalise on alternative fuels and technology. However, the author believes that as these green cars are more expensive to produce and therefore require higher retail prices, it is necessary for gas prices to remain high to encourage development.

Car manufacturers, he believes, need assurances that their investment into green car development is worthwhile. He states that this can be accomplished if the Federal Government agrees to impose a floating gas tax to ensure a high and stable price.

The tax would be used for road and bridge maintenance and construction, which in turn would provide jobs for the faltering economy. With tax rebates and credits for low-income families and those who rely on their vehicles for their businesses, as well as an introduction of the tax in stages, he believes that any negative effects can quickly be mitigated.

The author writes “I do not see how major investment in green car development and production is likely to occur without assurance of high and stable gas prices”. However, the question is, do you agree? Do you think a tax to keep gas prices high should be implemented so that greener cars can prosper? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

 Yesterday we told you how police forces in Maryland had turned to green cars – and now you can add another force to the list, this time in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In an attempt to save both money and energy, the police department will be adding four or five hybrid vehicles to its 450 car fleet.

The decision to add the green cars to the fleet was not straight forward as each hybrid vehicle costs around $23,084 – some $4,000 more than a regular petrol powered car. However, the hybrid cars are also capable of achieving around 10 miles a gallon more than traditional police cars.

After some sharp mathematics, the police force determined that the initial outlay was outweighed by the money that could be saved at the pump – the department currently spends $1.5million on petrol every year.

The police department now plans to replace 20 per cent of its fleet with hybrid cars every year. With only 12 hybrids currently included in its stock, this will mean a massive turnaround over the coming years.

 The Middle East is emerging as one of the hotbeds for green cars with demand soaring – and now Mercedes is taking one of its greenest vehicles to the region.

The S400 was unveiled at the Abu Dhabi International Motor Show and is expected to go on sale next August. It has been deemed the first luxury hybrid in the region – although that claim is controversial given that Lexus has been selling the RX400h in Israel since 2007.

Nevertheless, the Mercedes S400 will be the first lithium-ion battery powered car on the market. According to a Mercedes engineer the vehicle will run at 299 horsepower and have 385Nm of torque when operating in the combined petrol and battery mode.

So far the vehicle has been well received with reviews in Abu Dhabi stating that the vehicle performs excellently and with no noticeable variations from the non-hybrid S series vehicles. The lithium-ion battery is able to power the electric engine alone when the driver wishes with a range of up to 65 kilometres.

The vehicle also represents a significant reduction in emissions. The carbon dioxide (CO2) output of the vehicle is 186g/km when running the petrol engine – some 10 or 20 per cent below its leading competitors although this is much worse than several non-hybrid vehicles. 

The question for vehicle buyers in the region is whether to opt for this vehicle or wait to purchase a full electric vehicle such as those that will soon be available through Project Better Place, or the REVA that is already available in Dubai.

 Anyone hoping that the problems for the automotive industry would be left behind in 2008 will be disappointed by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) report projecting total sales of passenger cars will continue to slump in 2009.

According to its figures, the total sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in 2008 should finish at 5.11 million units – a decline of 4.5 per cent compared to the previous year. However, JAMA is also forecasting a further 4.9 per cent reduction to 4.86 million units in 2009. This represents a dramatic fall from the peak of demand in 1996 at 7,077,745 units.

The decline has been attributed to the economic slowdown and sinking consumer confidence prompted by soaring fuel prices in the first half of the year. The projection for 2009 indicated that the harsh economic climate will continue and that sluggish consumer spending will continue to drive sales down.

In terms of standard and small-sized passenger cars, JAMA estimates sales in 2008 at 2.82 million units – a year-on-year decline of 4.7 per cent. In terms of mini passenger cars, sales are estimated at 1,439 million units – down 0.6 per cent compared to the previous year. Despite a boost in new and restyled models for the new-year, consumer spending is still expected to remain weak with a dip of 0.3 per cent compared to 2008.

 It’s fair to say the Army has been driving green vehicles for sometime – after all, that’s the colour of most of their camouflage. However, when it comes to making an environmentally friendly choice, the US Army in Germany has decided that electric cars just don’t cut it.

Six months ago, the Army based at Grafenwohr began trialling three GEM neighbourhood electric vehicles but have now decided they aren’t good enough. They have deemed the range simply insufficient and also decided that they suffer from reliability problems as well.

In a military working environment, a vehicle that breaks down too much and can’t be relied on to travel long distances simply wasn’t good enough. As such, the Army has rejected adding the GEM vehicles to its fleet.

Nevertheless, it has not completely turned its back on electric vehicles and has said that improved batteries supplying better range would give them reason to try again.