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Demand soars for non-petrol cars
Continued uncertainty created by the fluctuating price of petrol is giving vehicles built for alternative fuels their best Australian sales on record. While the Western Australian and Federal governments are offering subsidies to encourage a switch to LPG, Australians in the market for new cars are creating an unprecedented demand for diesel, hybrids and purpose-built LPG vehicles.
Figures published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that in the 12 months to July there was a 155% jump in sales of diesel-powered passenger vehicles, a 165% jump in hybrid sales, and a 374% jump in sales of purpose-built LPG passenger vehicles.
Although those increases were all measured from a very low base, the trend was clear enough. All other categories of road vehicles were showing minus figures if they were powered by petrol. Sales of petrol-driven passenger vehicles for the same period dropped by 3%, petrol driven 4WDs were down 10.5%, petrol-driven light commercials for private use were down 26% and petrol-driven light commercials for business use were down 9%.
The economic boom in Western Australia has produced slightly different trends in WA - but primarily at the margins. The big difference is that WA motorists while following the trend towards smaller cars, have also become big buyers of luxury, imported vehicles.
In the second hand vehicle market the impact of fuel prices was even more dramatic. Many dealers reported problems selling used 4WDs and V8s - despite price discounts of up to 30%. One Sydney dealer reported selling an immaculately kept, low kilometres Toyota LandCruiser for $22,500. He said 12-months earlier, a similar vehicle would have easily fetched $30,000.
So will 2006 go down as the year Australians began to wean themselves from petrol? Quite possibly. Government rebates for LPG conversions created an unprecedented rush by motorists wanting to swap over from petrol.
Political uncertainty in the world's main oil-producing regions looks like continuing for many years to come and no new oil finds look like changing what has become a precarious balancing act between international supply and international demand.
The scan also showed:
Two wheels better
Cars are not the only private vehicles that will get you from "A" to "B" - as Australians are discovering in increasing numbers. Local motorcycle dealers are reporting that to June this year there was a six month, 20% jump in road bike sales with the "road machines" outselling "dirt bikes" for the first time in 20 years. Scooter sales - which are categorised by the industry as part of the road bike market - boomed in popularity with a 64.4% sales increase over the same six-month period.
Small test
The switch to smaller vehicles is about to be tested in a big way in the home of the world's biggest gas-guzzlers, the United States. DaimlerChrysler are planning a US launch of its 2.4 metre long Smart car in 2008 with the aim of selling 20,000 vehicles a year to Americans.
Hybrid incentives
While Australian governments are offering cash contributions to fund motorists into a switch to LPG, in the US both governments and private industry are offering incentives for people to buy hybrids. In fact the city of New Haven now allows anyone driving a hybrid to park at city parking meters free of charge. The US Government already offers a tax credit of up to $US3400 on hybrid purchases and in Boston, Bank of America will add $US3000 to that figure if any of its employees decide to make the switch. Last year the US reported a 139% increase in hybrid registration - to 199,148 vehicles.
Preparing for hydrogen
In Sweden, Volvo is developing a high performance, transitional prototype car that can run on five different fuels - "hythane", bio-methane, natural gas, bioethanol E85 and petrol. (Hythane is 10% hydrogen and 90% methane.) According to project leader, Mats Moren, the multi-fuel prototype is being viewed by Volvo as a first step towards a hydrogen powered society.
Child tracks
Britain has ear-marked $75 million to link more schools to the country's fast expanding network of cycle tracks. The idea is to encourage more children to cycle to school and to do so on tracks that steer them away from main roads. Coupled with the building program will be what is being described as a "more rigorous cycling proficiency test" to better teach 100,000 children both how to use the track - and how to cope with main roads.
A challenge to helmets?
The international research journal, Accident Analysis & Prevention, has just accepted for publication a controversial study that claims that wearing helmets puts cyclists at greater risk of being hit by passing vehicles. The study was conducted by Dr Ian Walker, a specialist in "traffic psychology" at Britain's University of Bath who found motorists drive closer to cyclists wearing helmets than they do to cyclists riding bare headed. He says the net result of such driving is that helmeted riders are at greater risk of collision. Dr Walker made the claim after fitting his own bicycle with a computer and ultrasonic sensor and recording the distance of separation each of 2500 motor vehicles give the bike when overtaking him. Half the time he wore a helmet - half the time he did not. He says that during the experiment he was actually "struck" by a passing bus, and a passing truck. On both occasions he was wearing a helmet. According to the ultrasonic measuring device, on average vehicles passed him 8.5cm closer when he had his helmet on. Why the difference? Dr Walker views it as psychological. "We know from research that many drivers see cyclists as a separate subculture, to which they don't belong," said Dr Walker. "As a result they hold stereotyped ideas about cyclists, often judging all riders by the yardstick of the lycra-clad street-warrior. This may lead drivers to believe cyclists with helmets are more serious, experienced and predictable than those without helmets." Dr Walker says this might explain why drivers leave them less space when passing.
