With mounting environmental concerns and record high gas prices worldwide, automakers are scrambling to find ways to make more economical vehicles. While equipping vehicles with smaller powerplants is the most obvious solution, several Japanese automakers are focusing on reducing vehicle weight, even if that means only a couple of ounces at a time.
Honda has yet to set a target for weight savings, but the Japanese automaker is looking to shave weight wherever it can, including in small details such as vehicle welds. “This is just one way we are trying to reduce weight,” Kohei Hitomi, chief engineer of Honda’s redesigned Fit, told Automotive News. The 2009 Fit slated to hit the market later this year is actually 88 pounds heavier than the current model, but is also bigger in every dimension and has a larger powerplant – a tribute to Honda’s weight trimming program.
Nissan has set the most aggressive weight savings targets of the Japanese automakers, with a plan to reduce vehicle weight by 15 percent by 2015 when compared to 2005 levels. Nissan plans to reach that goal by using lightweight materials which could include high-tensile steel, magnesium and carbon fiber in the coming years.
Toyota has enacted a plan to reduce mid-size vehicle weight by 10 percent by sometime in the 2010s and Mazda plans to reduce weight by 220 per vehicle by 2011. Like Nissan, lightweight materials will be crucial to weight savings for Toyota and Mazda.
However, growing raw material costs could jeopardize the lost cost of the typical economy car. Although weight savings will result in at least a 3 percent bump in fuel economy, fuel savings could be offset by higher prices at the dealer. But if more and more automakers begin to use lightweight materials, economies of scale would likely drive down production costs.
