tigerhonaker
10-02-2006, 10:01 PM
Battle of the bulge
As North Americans pack on the pounds, our cars are getting heavier as well,
but carmakers are looking to shed excess fat in order to maintain decent fuel economy
NICOLAS VAN PRAET, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, October 02, 2006
Fatter drivers, fatter cars. The bulging waistlines of motorists have contributed to making the current crop of cars and trucks sold in North America the heaviest since 1975.
But with fuel efficiency becoming increasingly important for car buyers as gasoline prices remain high, auto parts suppliers such as Magna International Inc. say manufacturers are cranking up the pressure on them to deliver lighter-weight components.
Modern society's obsession with weight-watching has, it seems, finally hit the auto world full throttle.
"Vehicles are getting bigger because human beings are getting bigger," in height and weight, said Mark Hogan, president of Magna, Canada's biggest auto parts supplier with revenue last year of $27.6 billion.
"Manufacturers have done a pretty good job of trying to keep fuel economy basically competitive. But now, with fuel prices being where they are ... there's a huge push (from automakers) to take weight out."
A recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows 2006 model year cars and light trucks sold in North America are the heaviest and fastest since the agency began tracking the data 31 years ago.
One reason for that is passenger heft. Americans and Canadians are getting fatter. Between 1978 and 2003, the obesity rate among Canadian adults jumped to 23 per cent from 14 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. Some 5.5 million Canadian adults are now obese, the agency says. Kids are getting bigger, too. Dorel Industries Inc., a Montreal-based company that makes car seats for children, has developed a baby seat with an internal restraint for kids weighing up to 29.5 kilograms, up from 18 kilograms. Dorel is looking at making an even wider seat.
Bigger passengers mean bigger vehicles. SUVs in particular shot up in popularity during the first half of the decade, bringing up the average weight of the total vehicle fleet.
But even lightweight cruisers such as the Honda Civic, Canada's top-selling car, are heavier. The two-door Civic has gained 178 kilos over the past 10 years and statistics show it also stands wider, higher and has more hip room. One reason it's heavier is because it's got a bigger and more powerful engine, Honda spokesperson Richard Jacobs said. The old one delivered 106 horsepower; the new one packs 140.
"Human beings are getting bigger and (manufacturers) are trying to accommodate that," Hogan said. "You need bigger engines to pull that larger mass."
Packing in standard safety equipment such as airbags, and putting in DVD players and other gadgets has also contributed to heftier vehicles.
The average 2006 model weighs in at 1,880 kilograms, according to the EPA. That's almost 226 kilos more than the average 1996 model. Over that same
10-year period, the average real-world fuel economy of vehicles has remained relatively constant, the EPA says, ranging from 11.4 L/100 km to 11.0 L/100 km.
Hogan, who has been involved in more than 100 new vehicle programs with Magna and General Motors Corp., says trying to cut bulk is nothing new, but higher gasoline prices have changed the game. "What's changed today is that the consumer in North America has shown some resistance to going bigger," he said.
For automakers to continue to sell bigger vehicles at the same pace that they did before $1-a-litre gasoline requires them to take more mass out because fuel economy has become one of the top three reasons for purchase today, Hogan said.
"That wasn't necessarily the case five years ago."
Many carmakers are still relying heavily on SUVs but are waking up to the need to go light.
"I know it's a priority and one of increasing importance," said Linda Hasenfratz, chief executive of Ontario parts maker Linamar Corp. "Obviously if you take weight out, you're going to improve fuel efficiency. "
Linamar recently developed a hydroformed camshaft that's 60 per cent lighter than a traditional cast iron cam. It's sold the product to BMW in Europe and is now talking to North American customers about it as well, Hasenfratz said.
Magna says it implemented a number of weight-saving ideas on GM's new Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade models, especially in structural metal. It switched the transfer case from steel to aluminum, cutting the weight by 30 per cent, or about 30 kilograms. Now it says it is thinking about switching to magnesium, which would cut another 30 kilograms.
The business case for using lighter weight materials has improved as the price of fuel has risen, Hogan said.
But the drive to cut the fat off cars will also clash with tougher government standards on safety, which could mean more weight.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last month that automakers have to display crash-test scores on the window stickers of the majority of new vehicles within a year. Canada is considering following suit.
That's expected to raise the pressure on manufacturers to improve safety, at the very time automakers are looking to reduce vehicle weight to combat higher pump prices.
National Post
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/driving/story.html?id=427328a1-cd05-403f-aca2-ff7089e277ea&p=1
As North Americans pack on the pounds, our cars are getting heavier as well,
but carmakers are looking to shed excess fat in order to maintain decent fuel economy
NICOLAS VAN PRAET, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, October 02, 2006
Fatter drivers, fatter cars. The bulging waistlines of motorists have contributed to making the current crop of cars and trucks sold in North America the heaviest since 1975.
But with fuel efficiency becoming increasingly important for car buyers as gasoline prices remain high, auto parts suppliers such as Magna International Inc. say manufacturers are cranking up the pressure on them to deliver lighter-weight components.
Modern society's obsession with weight-watching has, it seems, finally hit the auto world full throttle.
"Vehicles are getting bigger because human beings are getting bigger," in height and weight, said Mark Hogan, president of Magna, Canada's biggest auto parts supplier with revenue last year of $27.6 billion.
"Manufacturers have done a pretty good job of trying to keep fuel economy basically competitive. But now, with fuel prices being where they are ... there's a huge push (from automakers) to take weight out."
A recent report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shows 2006 model year cars and light trucks sold in North America are the heaviest and fastest since the agency began tracking the data 31 years ago.
One reason for that is passenger heft. Americans and Canadians are getting fatter. Between 1978 and 2003, the obesity rate among Canadian adults jumped to 23 per cent from 14 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. Some 5.5 million Canadian adults are now obese, the agency says. Kids are getting bigger, too. Dorel Industries Inc., a Montreal-based company that makes car seats for children, has developed a baby seat with an internal restraint for kids weighing up to 29.5 kilograms, up from 18 kilograms. Dorel is looking at making an even wider seat.
Bigger passengers mean bigger vehicles. SUVs in particular shot up in popularity during the first half of the decade, bringing up the average weight of the total vehicle fleet.
But even lightweight cruisers such as the Honda Civic, Canada's top-selling car, are heavier. The two-door Civic has gained 178 kilos over the past 10 years and statistics show it also stands wider, higher and has more hip room. One reason it's heavier is because it's got a bigger and more powerful engine, Honda spokesperson Richard Jacobs said. The old one delivered 106 horsepower; the new one packs 140.
"Human beings are getting bigger and (manufacturers) are trying to accommodate that," Hogan said. "You need bigger engines to pull that larger mass."
Packing in standard safety equipment such as airbags, and putting in DVD players and other gadgets has also contributed to heftier vehicles.
The average 2006 model weighs in at 1,880 kilograms, according to the EPA. That's almost 226 kilos more than the average 1996 model. Over that same
10-year period, the average real-world fuel economy of vehicles has remained relatively constant, the EPA says, ranging from 11.4 L/100 km to 11.0 L/100 km.
Hogan, who has been involved in more than 100 new vehicle programs with Magna and General Motors Corp., says trying to cut bulk is nothing new, but higher gasoline prices have changed the game. "What's changed today is that the consumer in North America has shown some resistance to going bigger," he said.
For automakers to continue to sell bigger vehicles at the same pace that they did before $1-a-litre gasoline requires them to take more mass out because fuel economy has become one of the top three reasons for purchase today, Hogan said.
"That wasn't necessarily the case five years ago."
Many carmakers are still relying heavily on SUVs but are waking up to the need to go light.
"I know it's a priority and one of increasing importance," said Linda Hasenfratz, chief executive of Ontario parts maker Linamar Corp. "Obviously if you take weight out, you're going to improve fuel efficiency. "
Linamar recently developed a hydroformed camshaft that's 60 per cent lighter than a traditional cast iron cam. It's sold the product to BMW in Europe and is now talking to North American customers about it as well, Hasenfratz said.
Magna says it implemented a number of weight-saving ideas on GM's new Tahoe, Yukon and Escalade models, especially in structural metal. It switched the transfer case from steel to aluminum, cutting the weight by 30 per cent, or about 30 kilograms. Now it says it is thinking about switching to magnesium, which would cut another 30 kilograms.
The business case for using lighter weight materials has improved as the price of fuel has risen, Hogan said.
But the drive to cut the fat off cars will also clash with tougher government standards on safety, which could mean more weight.
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced last month that automakers have to display crash-test scores on the window stickers of the majority of new vehicles within a year. Canada is considering following suit.
That's expected to raise the pressure on manufacturers to improve safety, at the very time automakers are looking to reduce vehicle weight to combat higher pump prices.
National Post
© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/driving/story.html?id=427328a1-cd05-403f-aca2-ff7089e277ea&p=1