Formosa Automobile Corp (台塑汽車) recently launched its first environmentally-friendly cars after the government agreed to subsidize fuel prices as a means of boosting consumer interest in the cleaner-energy source.
The hybrid vehicles, designed to run on gasoline or liquified petroleum gas (LPG), will enjoy cheap LPG prices thanks to government efforts to introduce more energy efficienc cars a Formosa Automobile executive said yesterday.
``Environmentally speaking, consumer awareness is building day by day,'' said Tseng Sheng-cheng (曾盛誠), executive vice president of Formosa Automobile, the carmaking arm of the Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團).
The company's hybrid car -- the Magnus Green Car -- is a two liter sedan that consumes about 51.5 percent less fuel than ordinary gasoline-powered vehicles.
"The Magnus model is an ideal platform for the technology since it really takes advantage of the performance benefits and offers good fuel economy," Tseng said. "It can save up to NT$10,000 in fuel costs per month for heavy usage vehicles like taxis and NT$5,000 for the average driver."
Formosa's green car retails for NT$629,000 per unit.
"Our hybrid systems add at least NT$30,000 to a car's cost -- including hybrid parts, commodity tariffs and wages," Tseng said.
Formosa Automobile expects to sell the hybrid cars through some 80 showrooms set up nationwide, Tseng said.
"During the last two weeks, we have sold some 10 hybrid cars -- mainly to taxi drivers," he added.
The company originally planned to supply 60 hybrid cars to its local dealers but Tseng said the number may change due to rising consumer interest. He declined, however, to set a specific sales target for this year.
While the company has added the fuel-efficient vehicles to its product line, it has no plans to produce a hybrid version of its two liter Tacuma recreational vehicle or of the 0.8 liter economy model, the Matiz, in the near future, Tseng said.
"Production technologies have not been a problem for us. What we have been waiting for is market acceptance," he said.
Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) and Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) rolled out LPG-powered vehicles about five years ago but later pulled them from the market due to bleak sales.
Yulon and Ford Lio Ho officials contacted by the Taipei Times said that they have no plans to enter the market now because problems, such as insufficient LPG stations, are still unresolved. Taiwan has just 12 LPG stations -- eight in the north, two in Tainan and two in the Kaohsiung area.
Formosa claims the Magnus gets around the problem experienced by Yulon and Ford Lio Ho by using a dual gas-LPG system.
"After discussions with Formosa Petrochemical Corp (
Toyota Motor Corp's Prius hybrid mini van -- a combo gas-electric model -- is the most popular car of its type in the world at present.
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