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Competition in minivehicle fuel efficiency is said to have been intensified by the launch of Daihatsu Motor Co.'s Mira e:S in September 2011. The model's mileage was 30 kilometers per liter (kpl) of gasoline. At the time of its launch, the sales point of the model was the high fuel efficiency equivalent to that of hybrid cars, attracting even the attention of drivers who had never driven a minivehicle.
With an increasing sense of urgency, Daihatsu rival Suzuki Motor Corp. in December 2011 launched the Alto Eco minivehicle model, whose mileage was slightly higher than that of the Mira e:S at 30.2 kpl. Since then, Suzuki has been taking the lead in the competition.
"Since around that time, automakers started to be engaged in a frantic battle to make the appeal that if consumers buy vehicles with high fuel efficiency, they will be able to save gasoline costs," a senior official at a major automaker said.
Minivehicles are a standard unique to Japan. With 660cc engines, the vehicle prices and the maintenance costs such as taxes are lower than those for small-size vehicles.
Minivehicles have been favored by budget-minded families and drivers in nonmetropolitan areas who heavily depend on a car in their daily lives, and despite the sluggish domestic new-car market, the share of minivehicles has been growing, reaching nearly 40 percent in fiscal 2015.
Aiming to grab market share from Daihatsu and Suzuki, which combined have nearly 60 percent of the minivehicle market share, other automakers started competing to strengthen their sales of minivehicles.
Honda Motor Co. started full-scale sales of minivehicles in December 2011. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) and Nissan Motor Co. established a joint company to develop minivehicles in June 2011. These automakers are placing priority in improving the fuel efficiency of their minivehicles by reducing vehicle body weight through the use of fewer parts and other means.
According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, among minivehicles available on the market as of the end of 2015, Suzuki's Alto had the highest fuel efficiency at 37 kpl. Amid the fierce competition, the mileages of higher-ranked models are more than 32 kpl. Year after year, the fuel efficiency competition has been waged at a higher and higher level.
MMC's eK Wagon underwent minor changes in June 2014 and its mileage was "improved" to 30 kpl, and subsequently to 30.4 kpl. These figures, however, were based on falsified data.
(THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN)
