Frost & Sullivan Looks at how Emission Targets are Forcing Vehicle Manufacturers to "Lose Weight"

London – 18 June 2009 – With more and more features being added to today’s vehicles, their weight has increased, resulting in higher fuel consumption. However, there is growing demand to shift from gas guzzlers to fuel sippers. Even as gasoline prices have plunged, customers have become more eco-conscious.

“This is evident from the 25 per cent drop in the sales of sports utility and pickup vehicles in North America,” says Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Mohamed Mubarak M M. “It has become imperative for manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles without compromising on performance. The key challenge is to keep an optimum balance between cost, weight and performance.”

To provide decision makers with a comprehensive overview of the trends, strategies and prospects for producing more fuel-efficient vehicles, the Automotive & Transportation Group at Frost & Sullivan (http://www.transportation.frost.com) is pleased to announce it will be hosting an online analyst briefing presentation on Thursday 25 June at 2:00pm BST.

The discussion will benefit vehicle manufacturers, systems and module suppliers, interior designers, and material suppliers in the automotive industry.

“European and the Asian manufacturers already have more experience in manufacturing fuel-efficient vehicles,” Mubarak says. “The American vehicle makers, for whom stringent fuel economy standards have just been introduced, will find it more challenging to shift from larger gas guzzlers to fuel sippers and convince their customers to buy smaller cars. Although the Americans can adopt certain successful European and Asian strategies in the short term, it is important to develop technologies for a long-term sustainable future.”