AS the steady stream of fuel price hikes continues to hit both local and global consumers, car buyers are starting to take a second look at leaner and meaner machines that are both easy on the pocket and easy on the tank.

Local automakers, assemblers and distributors at the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) paraded last Aug. 21 to 24 at the World Trade Center, Pasay City the latest compact brands in the market, among them new hatchback models that respond to the demand for smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles.  But does small really mean thrifty when it comes to fuel consumption?“Hatchbacks have started to pick up, especially as fuel price hikes began peaking last June and July. Vehicles such as SUVs are becoming a lot more and more of a luxury nowadays,” said sales trainer Enrico Bonggo of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI). “We can say that it’s really the time of small, fuel-efficient cars.”

HARI made the 2nd PIMS its launching pad for the first two in its I series – the i30 with a 1.6-liter power plant and the i10 with a 1.10 fuel engine. The i30 and i10 models — following the earlier Hyundai Getz minicar — target young professionals and small families with four to five members. Mr. Bonggo said Hyundai’s compact cars also boast diesel engines that are fuel-efficient but “do not compromise power.”

Not to be outdone in the compact category, Honda Cars Philippines, Inc. (HCPI) unveiled the new Honda Jazz at the motor show.  “The Honda Jazz has revolutionized the concept behind small cars,” said HCPI president and general manager Hiroshi Shimizu at Honda’s “Driving Your Lifestyle” media presentation last Aug. 21 at the motor show.

Touted as a Fun Utility Vehicle or FUV, the Japanese carmaker’s second-generation Honda Jazz has already sold 2.5 million units in around 115 countries worldwide. Mr. Shimizu attributed the new Jazz’s success to “fuel economy, utility, and (its) fun-to-drive performance.”

Mr. Shimizu also announced that the relaunched hatchback model, released in the Philippines in 2004, is Japan’s Car of the Year in 2007-2008. It topped the passenger car segment for nine months and accounted for 68% of the market.

Scandinavian Motors Corp., local distributor of Volvo cars, said it is also heeding the trend towards small and diesel-powered vehicles.

“We actually have smaller cars on the road. We have recently introduced our diesel variants because with diesel you get more mileage and it’s a bit friendlier to the environment. With fuel efficiency, we have smaller cars that consume less gas,” explained Viking Cars, Inc.’s vice-president for marketing services Lyn Manalansang-Buena. She said Volvo has “one of the cleanest exhaust emissions to help the planet.”

While still a concept car, the Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle (iMiEV) attracted hordes of visitors at the motor show. While it is now still considered a novelty, these small, fuel-friendly cars are already making waves in the motoring scene and are expected to wow consumers in the near future.

New Suzuki Swift with manual transmission

The Suzuki Alto

Hyundai's newly unveiled i30 hatchback model

Volvo C30

The New second-generation Honda Jazz

Text and photos from the 2nd Philippine

Tsikot.com Philippines