Daihatsu, Suzuki to price fuel-efficient mini-vehicles at par with hybrids

Daihatsu aims to price its new mini-vehicle, which has a fuel efficiency rating of more than 30 kilometers per liter at about 1 million yen (US$11,145) and expects to derive further advantages by reducing component costs through redesigned parts and collaboration with overseas suppliers. Meanwhile, Suzuki intends to launch new mini-vehicles with a newly designed engine in 2011. Although there has been some improvement in the standard car class recently, mini-vehicle sales are continuing to decline in Japan. Part of the reason for this is that the maximum fuel efficiency benefits, and in turn preferential tax rates, are relatively easier to achieve with larger vehicles, which have further to go to reach these levels and are increasingly using hybrid power trains and other technologies. (October 6, 2009)