German Car Manufacturers Going "Green"

Monday, March 12, 2007

The global community is now under siege of the global warming issue. To counter the huge amount of greenhouse gases being released by vehicles all over the world, car manufacturers continue to develop ways to cut down the fuel consumption of their production vehicles.

The American International Automobile Dealers Association's (AIADA) newsletter recently reported that German carmakers are among the players in the auto industry which have taken a keen interest in producing environment friendly cars. This may be their response to the ongoing debate on the stricter EURO6 emission standards set to be implemented in the year 2015. The steps being taken by German car makers are also a big help in the protection of the environment.

While according to the German newspaper Deutsche Welle, German car makers have yet to produce a true hybrid. And several car makers from the region expressed their interest on producing mild hybrids in the near future.

BMW has already announced that they will be teaming up with American car maker Chrysler in developing a mild hybrid transmission system for rear-wheel drive performance cars. This effort by the two car makers will further enhance the hybrid technology being used on cars today.

Another European car maker which has taken steps to produce environmentally friendly vehicles is Volkswagen. The German car maker has presented their lineup of super-efficient, ultra-low emission cars under the BlueMotion line. The company has already announced this technology in 2006 in the famous VW Polo. The technology is named after the color of Volkswagen's logo. Today, the BlueMotion technology is being planned to be incorporated on other Volkswagen vehicles like the Golf, Passat, and the Touran.

The Polo BlueMotion is equipped with a specially designed 1.4 liter diesel engine which has an astounding gas mileage rating of 60.3 miles per gallon. The fuel efficient Polo is also a very low emission vehicle with only 102 grams of CO2 released per kilometer. These figures beat the stats by the renowned Toyota Prius. The further enhancement of the BlueMotion technology will only help the car manufacturer produce more and more environment friendly vehicles.

Aside from the accomplishment of Volkswagen with the BlueMotion technology, they have also announced that they will be working with another German car manufacturer - Porsche. The two famous car maker has announced that they will be working together to produce eco-friendly cars which will be out in the market by the year 2008.

The partnership between the two forward thinking companies is hoped to bring revolutionary technologies which will help not only the companies but the entire auto industry in their battle against global warming. With Volkswagen leading the way for German car makers, it is only a matter of time before we see them as serious competition to Asian car makers who seemed to have the upper hand in the eco-friendly vehicle market all over the world.

Toyota and Honda has been leading the way when it comes to producing green cars. The Toyota Prius, the first successful electric hybrid car, is still selling in large quantities. The popularity of the Prius is well documented, aside from being the best selling hybrid car in the U.S., the owners of these cars have created a group to celebrate their concern for nature.

A website dedicated to hybrid car owners is put up with the cooperation of Toyota. Another hybrid car which has been racking up sales in the U.S. is the Honda Civic Hybrid. The Honda Civic in itself is already famous thanks to its fuel efficiency and good performance in handling and in ride comfort. But with the introduction of the hybrid version, the buyer base of the Asian brand in the U.S. quickly supported the hybrid version.

The accomplishments of Honda and Toyota are what German car makers are shooting for. With continued developments, German car makers will surely be coming up with hybrid cars as efficient and as reliable as Dodge Rancho shocks.

About the Author
Mike Bartley, 49, is a professional automotive journalist domiciled in Irvine, CA. He travels from one state to another to cover the hottest auto shows, racing events and automotive revelations. His penned compositions cover press releases, reviews, and suggestions. Where the auto action is, that's exactly where you can find Mike.