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Zhao Yi, vice president of Hawtai Motor, estimated that diesel is the best choice for Chinese automakers picture China Daily.
BEIJING - When the public doesn t buy into the superiority of diesel cars, the so-called vehicle environmentally friendly and fuel efficient can become a hot potato for manufacturers.
Hawtai Motor is stuck in this dilemma one hand, executives firmly believe that diesel vehicles are the future of the automotive industry; secondly, they must face the mistrust and constant criticism of the value of their products.
As the only major car manufacturer in China which focuses on diesel engine technology, Hawtai has been the engine of the long and lonely road since it began operations in Beijing in 2000.
The company has three main product lines - cars, engines and spare parts.
Its flagship products are diesel models SUV Terracan and Santa Fe These vehicles use a chassis licensed from Hyundai, which proudly claims to save up to 30 percent fuel compared to gasoline engines of similar size.
He dreamed big on its creation - to build mid-high-end vehicles that have used diesel engines The company decided that since very few automakers have been devoted to this idea, it could easily take on the niche market .
However, this market untapped didn t come easily Hawtai While the company boasts of supremacy of diesel vehicles on its website, the public has expressed tepid interest.
Hawtai sold 15,950 vehicles last year compared to 14,670 in 2009. Although sales figures are up, it has a long way to go to catch up with domestic competitors automaker Chery low cost, which produces motor vehicles gasoline, sold 700,000 cars in 2010.
Zhao Yi, vice president of Hawtai Motor, insists that diesel is the best choice for Chinese auto manufacturers.
Diesel is more efficient than gasoline, and more convenient than electric vehicles But now, too much attention is paid to electric cars, I think more should be shifted attention on diesel cars.
Zhao assumption is based on his personal observations As a graduate of Beihang University also known as the Beijing University of Aeronautics Astronautics in aircraft design, it has a good knowledge of motors and batteries.
I'm actually a guy in technology, I do not think that electric cars can reach mass market in 10 years, said Zhao.
Let s be realistic There are so many problems in the electric vehicle industry, such as the quality of the battery, the control system and infrastructure, we haven t even a mature business model to follow.
A comment from government officials has further strengthened the decision to continue to focus on Zhao diesel engines in late May, Premier Wen Jiabao said at a conference at the annual meeting of the China Association for science and technology as the electric vehicle industry hadn t found a clear route this polite criticism dampened the confidence of electric vehicle manufacturers and investors.
Therefore, our task now is to make them as effective as possible cars, rather than using the technology of realistic electric vehicle, said Zhao.
Zhao said the diesel cars in Europe are the benchmark Hawtai Over the past 15 years, the total share of diesel cars market in Europe has tripled to more than 50 percent, led by France with 74 percent .
Love of diesel vehicles that didn t make money fast society, although their number of sales accuses domestic rivals Chery, Geely and BYD, which produce and sell budget cars with thin profit margins.
Even Zhao acknowledged that although the idea of green, efficient and low-emission is well established in this area, most automakers talk about battery electric vehicles and charging stations instead of diesel engines.
I look to the future of diesel engines We must plan for the long term, Europe has already set the bar for us.
For Zhao, the problem is not the technology, but a lack of talent.
There are not many senior engineers working on gasoline cars, let alone in the car companies diesel revenues are so low that many engineers are turning to other careers.
We built a new plant in Erdos of Inner Mongolia, but people are reluctant to go because of lack of money and good educational resources for their children.
Zhao said he would like local governments to provide more incentives for engineers to make better talent, such as free housing.
I hope the industry can set other standards for assessing an automotive company, such as the level of energy efficiency, and the generosity of the company offers bonuses to talent rather than sales and revenue figures, said Zhao.
But Song Jian, executive vice president of Tsinghua Automotive Engineering Institute, said Hawtai ignore the current situation of China and feelings towards diesel cars.
In China, massive construction projects require diesel to fuel trucks and cranes, which use about the amount of gasoline twice; but the diesel supply is equivalent to gasoline, which is why diesel is still sold.
In addition to insufficient supply, said Song underexploited diesel efficiency is another question.
In China, the technology is not advanced enough to use diesel fully in a car engine.
Furthermore, diesel cars tend to be stronger than petrol cars and may discourage consumers from even considering such an optional car.
The accompanying noise is considered a kind of pollution in cities.
Diesel fuel is more expensive than gasoline, so don the benefits of energy efficiency t necessarily translate savings.
This is fatal to price-sensitive customers, Song said.
When purchasing a vehicle, a diesel engine typically adds 6,400 to 1,002 yuan or price of a car, a deterrent for buyers of economy cars.
Dong Yang, vice president of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said the market will decide the popularity of diesel cars on electric vehicles.
Diesel cars are not inferior to electric vehicles, but the diesel gas power supply in China is not enough and the proportion of diesel gas will not improve in the short term, said Dong.
If one day policy changes and more diesel gas is supplied to the market, diesel cars could develop as in Europe.
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