Fiat Uno unveils its new ‘green machine‘ at the Durban Motor Show

By BIANCA CAPAZORIO Business Correspondent

WHILE the Geneva Motor Show held earlier this month in Switzerland was decidedly “green” when it came to environmentally friendly cars, the Durban Motor Show this week revealed only one.

The car in question is the new generation Fiat Uno, built with a Flex engine which allows it to run on petrol, ethanol or any combination of the two. The Flex will be imported from Brazil, where biofuel technology has become the norm in motoring.

At the Durban show, Fiat South Africa managing director Giorgio Gorelli said that over 70 per cent of Brazil‘s cars ran on biofuel or flexible engines.

The Uno Flex runs on alcohol made from either maize or sugarcane and Gorelli said the company would be involved in planting crops in KwaZulu Natal to make biofuels available in South Africa, once the flex was launched here later this year.The Flex models are expected to arrive in South Africa around July.

Gorelli said that Fiat was making definitive steps towards going “green”. Fiat, which has a 25% market share in Brazil, is putting about 400 000 new flex vehicles into the Brazilian market each year.

Brazil is one of the world leaders in adopting the use of biofuel, which is widely available there, and can be up to 60% cheaper than petrol. Vehicle performance is also enhanced by ethanol, as it has a higher octane and so increases power output.

There are, however, reservations about the use of biofuels in South Africa, with environmentalists saying the space and water needed to fuel the industry would have a severe impact on the environment.It has also been said to be immoral to grow food crops for fuel in South Africa, as cars would compete with the food security of the poor.

Director of Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance, Spiro Georgopoulous, said at the opening of the show that the motor industry needed to focus on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Commission earlier this year outlined fresh rules, forcing car manufacturers to cut carbon emissions. Emissions, which currently average around 160g/km, will have to be cut to 120g/km by 2012. Manufacturers will have to use biofuels, and better technologies to do this.

In the South African market, the shift to small vehicles, either for cost effectiveness or fuel efficiency, is already evident. Brandt Pretorius, managing director of McCarthy motors, said at the show this week that small cars currently made up about 40% of the market.

The Uno will be available first as a petrol-powered unit from July, to be followed by the Flex models later in the year. No price was provided.

Business