Poll: Aussies Unconvinced By Hybrid Cars - $10 Fuel Bills LPG Hybrid On The Way?

Aussies Unconvinced By Hybrid Cars: Poll

AAP
5 June 2008
www.smh.com.au

Many Australian motorists think hybrid cars are too expensive, don't suit their needs and wouldn't even consider buying one, a survey reveals.

Conducted by motoring website carsguide.com.au, the internet survey was completed by 1,075 people, 98 per cent of whom don't own a hybrid, despite versions of the petrol-electric cars being on the market for more than 10 years.

It found that, despite soaring petrol prices, 44 per cent still wouldn't even consider buying one.

The top two reasons cited for not considering the greener option were the cost (41 per cent) and that hybrids did not offer what they were looking for (28 per cent).

The results are a potential blow for Australian car companies like Toyota, Lexus and Honda that already have hybrids in their range, but also for local producer Holden, which has pledged to have a hybrid model of the Commodore on sale in about two years.

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$10 Fuel Bills With LPG Hybrid Car

Richard Blackburn
5 June 2008
www.drive.com.au

Hyundai Australia executives have visited South Korea to evaluate a new hybrid LPG version of the Elantra that could use as little as $10 a week in fuel.

The car, which is due on sale in Korea in the middle of 2009, would have easily the lowest operating costs of any car in Australia, costing roughly $10 a week. Hyundai won't confirm the cost of the car, but it is likely to be priced around the $30,000 mark.

Its fuel consumption is expected to be slightly higher than Toyota’s hybrid petrol-electric Prius, but with LPG selling for up to 90c a litre less than petrol, the small Hyundai’s annual fuel costs would be less than half those of a Prius and five times lower than Australia’s top-selling car, the Holden Commodore. The Hyundai could travel close to 300km on $10 worth of fuel.

Hyundai’s director of sales and marketing, Kevin McCann, says the hybrid, which is based on the same platform as the Hyundai Elantra small car, is under the microscope for local introduction.

"The situation is that while we would not like to be announcing that we are definitely bringing it here, it is under serious consideration," he says.

"There are a number of things to be clarified. We need to weigh up things like the cost and how it would be accepted by consumers, but it looks like a very viable alternative."

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