On the road to a greener future

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Techno investment: BMW is concentrating on improving its engine technology even further.

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Big plans: Phil Horton says that BMW cars will continue to be a favourite in the Gulf.

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The trial period will last for one year, during which GM will provide technical training on safety and other aspects for 15 RTA technicians, and 40 Dubai taxi drivers. In addition, as of February 2008, five new buses fitted with Euro 4 engines, and EGR technology will begin to arrive in Dubai. "I think consumer demand is actually going to be stimulated very much by what the government does," suggests Johnsson. "You can always get some small early movers on the consumer side, by keeping costs down and certainly making sure that the support infrastructure is at a very high level.

"Those are key ingredients and what the government-led initiative means is that it will start providing a proper scale and range of support services - which in turn should translate into more affordable choices for the consumer," he continues. "I think that for these technologies in the early phases it really is critical to have the government play a facilitating role, and this is a good example."

Johnsson does admit that the region's largest economy, Saudi Arabia, has yet to show signs of consumer demand for alternative propulsion or hybrid technology. However, GM is reporting increased consumer interest in the UAE, Qatar and (to a lesser extent) Oman, and is carefully calibrating its approach so to best take advantage of the shift.

"We know that if we keep the pricing to a fairly similar level as a fairly conventional level, then the customer would love to be able to choose alternative propulsion or hybrid technology, and not have to worry about high cost," he says. "They'd love to take the economic equation out of their environmental conscience. That's what we have to drive towards, and I don't think we're at all far from the tipping point."

Yet in the experience of Horton at BMW, consumers' driving experience will always supercede consumers' environmental conscience. While he does not disagree that the green voice is getting louder, BMW is primarily focused on ensuring that its cars are not hampered by having to meet green regulations or best practice. "We are definitely not going down the route that says in order to improve the fuel efficiency or CO₂ emissions of our cars we are going to make them any less fun to drive," he says. "That's a particular challenge for us, so we end up going down the route of what we call ‘efficient dynamics', which is taking weight out of the car and improving the engine technology even further. The plan is that even though the cars might use less fuel and produce less emissions, they're more powerful and drive even better than the last generation," he insists. Horton accepts that worldwide, car manufacturers have "a massive responsibility" with regards to the environment. And although Middle East consumers might not yet be roaring off the forecourt with the latest in green technology under their hood, he insists that BMW customers will soon benefit from the technology that the company is beginning to fit as standard.

"We don't have a big diesel market here, so diesel - which is one of the ways that BMW are driving the CO₂ improvement - isn't something we can benefit from in the region," he explains. "However, we will benefit from the brake regeneration systems, for example, which are going to be put in as standard on 3-Series and 1-Series.

"This means that when the cars come to a halt breaking, the kinetic energy which is stored by the inertia of breaking gets pumped back into the electrical system, rather like a storage battery, and then gets used later on," Horton continues. "That sort of thing will come into all of the cars over the next year or so."

However gradually, it seems that the region's drivers are going green - whether they know it or not.

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