Joint Engine basic research by 8 car companies

The 8 major Japanese car companies including Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Suzuki, Daihatsu Motor, Fuji Heavy Industries, Mazda, and Mitsubishi Motors have announced that they would jointly embark on the basic and applied research of fuel cost improvement and exhaust gas reduction of the passenger car.

They will tackle the technologies like the exhaust gas purification of the diesel engine vehicle mainly used in Europe and India.
They have established the Research Association of “Automotive Internal Combustion Engines (AICE)” to tackle the European power by tagging the Japanese powers aiming at strengthening the competitive edge.
It is expected that the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology will also participate in the future.
 
In Europe, the basic and applied research and standardization are executed by the cooperation of each automobile companies, parts manufacturers and universities for a many years in the fields such as the vehicle performance development, controls, engine etc.
The activity for the standardization assumed as a weak area and the combination of various development systems are made to counter the Japanese and European influence, and the efficiency improvement and development time reduction are aimed.
The specific topics of research are purification technology of diesel engine, upgrading the combustion technology of engine, and engine performance investigation. About US$10 million (1 billion yen) was allotted for the project expense in the current year.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has allocated US$5 million (500 million yen) for the diesel engine purification technology, and the balance will be shared by the 8 car companies.
 
The research will be carried out in cooperation with the universities and research laboratories, and will develop the combustion technology that will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent compared with ten years by the year 2020.
The thermal efficiency of the engine will be improved from the present 40% to 50%.
It is judged that the gasoline engine and diesel engine will account for about 80 percent of the entire car market even by the year 2020. Each company will the individually put the result to practical use.
 
At present, the European powers are preceding with the downsizing technology that supplements the power performance with turbocharger instead of reducing the engine displacement of both the gasoline and diesel engines.
 
The Japanese are countering by the hybrid technology with the electric motors.