Detroit Free Press
Better mileage sought
SAE guests stress need for efficiency

After spending much of the past two decades in a race to boost the power of their engines, automakers and their suppliers now say improving fuel economy will be the top priority for the next 20 years.

Nissan to develop its own hybrid technology

Nissan, so far dependent on Toyota for hybrid powertrains, is designing a new electric motor, lithium-ion battery and inverter package of its own, which reportedly may nearly double the acceleration performance of vehicles that run on fuel cells, electricity or hybrid engines when launched in 2009. Nissan’s first hybrid, an Altima saloon, will come first, this year, using Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive components.

Creativity is a central theme at engineering conference as firms unveil latest breakthroughs
Nick Bunkley, April 4, 2006

DETROIT — With hundreds of their co-workers losing their jobs, engineers and designers at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. undoubtedly feel growing pressure to avoid even the slightest misstep.

But automakers will only add to their problems if they don’t give their workers the latitude to fail as they experiment with new ideas, executives from several manufacturers and suppliers said at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress on Monday….

Experts say innovation is the key to big money in the corporate world, as well. “We’ve lived through an explosive period of innovation and connectivity that will only intensify over the next decade,” said Donald Manvel, chairman and CEO of auto supplier AVL North America Inc. “Companies that master new approaches to innovation are the ones that will own the profit zones in the future.”

Hirohide Ikeno, president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., warned that automakers won’t succeed by skimping on research and development to cut costs. It was successful in letting its workers experiment with ideas that the company created the 2001 Acura MDX, an early incarnation of today’s hot-selling crossover vehicles and the 2006 Honda Ridgeline, the first pickup with a trunk in the bed.

“R&D should not be based on the economy or the company’s past performance,” Ikeno said. “We want an environment that can accept mistakes and inspire creativity.”

Frank Niederlaender, BMW Group’s vice president of strategy and initialisation, said automakers need to formulate long-term visions to guide the direction of their research rather than simply listen to customers’ demands.

“Today’s customer,” Niederlaender said, “can’t tell you what he wants to have in 10 years.”

The Scuderi Air Hybrid Engine is one such innovation on display at the SAE show (Booth 2561). To learn more about this breakthroough engine, click here.

Toyota to Introduce Hybrid Tech to Lineup
The Associated Press

TOKYO — Toyota plans to introduce energy-efficient hybrid technology across its entire lineup and target global sales of 1 million hybrid vehicles by 2012, a news report said Saturday.

Toyota will concentrate on lowering production costs so the technology can be used in cheaper models, and aims to keep the retail price differential between hybrid and conventional cars to under 300,000 yen (US$2,550; euro2,106), according to the report.

Toyota has said it is targeting global sales of 5,700 hybrid vehicles this year _ 2,000 vehicles in North America, another 2,000 in Europe, 1,500 in Japan and 200 elsewhere.