Shanghai December 31 (Gasgoo.com) Huatai Automobile Group, a leading manufacturer of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in China, has announced a new five-year strategy and said it plans to develop eight diesel engines based on three existing platforms, as well as six diesel models, mainly SUVs, in the next five years, First Financial Daily reported Friday.
August 16, the automaker officially rolled out its first diesel-powered luxury sedan, the Huatai B11, representing its strong determination to tap the domestic diesel vehicle market. Inner Mongolia o Yi De Engine Co., Ltd. provided Huatai with the engines and transmissions needed, its CEO Xu Hengwu said.
Industry insiders are not quite optimistic about Huatai’s move, however, given Volkswagen’s failure experience in promoting diesel vehicles in the Chinese market, and the fact that the poor quality and short supply of diesel and other problems are still the biggest obstacles hindering the population of diesel vehicles in the country.
In addition, company data showed only 0.13% of the 7.47 million passenger vehicles Huatai sold last year were diesel powered, a relection of the limited market space for diesel vehicles in the current stage.
Diesel vehicles are 30% more fuel efficient and can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25%, and enhance vehicle output power by 50%, compared to gasoline vehicles. In the context of energy saving and emission reduction, we are very confident about the future prospect for the diesel vehicles in China, Xu said, adding that the company is now developing diesel engines meeting Europe IV and Europe V emission standards.
Apart from o Yi De, Great Wall Motor, Yunnei Power Co, Weichai Power Co and other Chinese engine makers have all launched their new diesel engines at present, with expectations that the government will loosen policies to make it easier to promote diesel products.
