MITSUBISHI MOTORS TO LAUNCH FUEL - SAVING CAR
Date: 20-May-99
Country: Japan
The automaker will employ an improved version of its direct gasoline injection engine as well as a system that automatically halts the engine at stops.
The company hopes the car will be able to run 78 miles per gallon of gasoline.
Currently, Suzuki Motor Corp's Alto minicar has the highest fuel efficiency among gasoline cars in Japan. The 660-cc minicar can run 29.0 kilometres on a litre of gasoline (68 mpg).
"We will be able to significantly improve fuel efficiency by stopping the engine when the vehicle is at a halt, because idling the engine accounts for 16 percent of gasoline consumption when driving in a city," a Mitsubishi Motor spokesman said.
The engine will be restarted automatically when the driver hits the clutch pedal.
The new compact car under development is expected to be manual transmission and equipped with one-litre engine.
"We expect to introduce the new car to the domestic market at the end of this year or in the beginning of 2000. We have not decided on overseas sales," the spokesman said.
Last month, Mitsubishi Motors announced a new version of the GDI engine that cuts exhaust emissions to less than 80 percent of current domestic standards.
The new engine cuts hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions by 50 percent from those of a prior version of the GDI engine announced in February 1998.
