Governments favour fuel efficiency standard

There's no denying that cars have progressed in leaps and bounds since the end of World War II, but has it been enough? The ACF (Australian Conservation Foundation) says no, calling for car companies to meet mandatory fuel efficiency standards -- just at a time when we've come to expect power on tap like never before, even in our light and small cars.

While cars sold in other countries make do with smaller engines (like the Skoda Superb with 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine, as one example), cars sold here are powered up enough to launch with the best of them when the light turns green.

"You know how you get into a little Barina or something here... and it's quite zippy? And then you get into the same car in Europe and it won't get out of its own way? That will happen here, mark my words."

Those words were uttered by Mazda Australia MD, Doug Dickson, at the press launch for the importer's new Mazda3 Diesel earlier this week.

Dickson was providing the Carsales Network with an example of the way vehicle performance may suffer once the Council of Australian Governments ('COAG') gets its way and fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles are mandated here, as is the case in America and Europe.

In the US, the standard is called CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) and when American car companies are asked why they don't build rear-wheel drive muscle cars any more, it's usually CAFE they cite as the excuse. A rear wheel drive car is significantly less economical than a front-wheel driver and suffers weight penalties and driveline efficiency losses that don't apply to the front-wheel drive vehicle. Rear-wheel drive cars are a staple of vehicle manufacture in Australia.

COAG, speaking on behalf of both the federal government and the state governments combined, announced its National Strategy on Energy Efficiency back in July. You can read about it on the Australian Labor Party's website.

The text of most immediate interest to the automotive industry is this paragraph: "There was also agreement to undertake a detailed regulatory assessment of introducing CO2 emissions standards for new light vehicles, which has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by around 30 per cent, based on overseas studies."

It's Doug Dickson's considered opinion that Australian consumers remain more cost-conscious than environmentally aware, when it comes to a vehicle's fuel efficiency. We only downsize our cars when fuel prices become prohibitive. When governments speak of sea levels rising or temperatures averaging seven or eight degrees higher by the end of the century, most of today's consumers will be literally in the grave by then. It's hard to be anything but complacent about that sort of prospect, but corporations are forced -- sometimes by legislative means -- to take a longer-term view.

Mazda is working on its Sky G (petrol) and Sky D (diesel) engines which are hoped to address some of these conflicting needs facing consumers and environmentalists. The engines, which were introduced at the Tokyo Motor Show, along with the Kiyora concept car (pictured),  are being developed in recognition that society will remain heavily dependent on the internal combustion engine to power road transport until at least 2015 -- by which time, Mazda expects to have reduced its 'corporate average fuel economy' by 30 per cent.

Before those engines arrive in 2011, according to Doug Dickson, there's likely to be some serious movement on COAG's part -- possibly as soon as the middle of next year. At that time, the combined governments of Australia are likely to settle on a standard "somewhere between Europe and Obama". The "somewhere" is the tricky part. CAFE doesn't include commercial vehicles, whereas Australia's equivalent possibly/probably would.

"If you want to sell BT-50s, you'll have to sell a lot of Mazda2s," says Dickson in response to that prospect.

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