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And you thought it was tough trying to figure out which fuel-efficient car to drive off the dealer lot.


Ichiro Sakai, assistant vice president of American Honda Motor Co., said earlier this week that vehicle manufacturers face similar challenges when it comes to allocating limited R&D dollars among competing (and expensive) green technologies.


"We suffer from market preference," Sakai said during a transportation program sponsored by the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.


That's a polite way of saying Honda doesn't want to get too far ahead of the green automobile pack -- only to discover that consumers aren't interested in buying what it has to sell. A case in point: the ongoing debate over whether lower gasoline prices have dulled consumer demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars.




Honda sees the wisdom of advancing such technologies as pure-electric vehicles and increased use of biofuels. But EE Publishing's ClimateWire (a subscription-only news service) reports that Sakai also told the audience that such market realities as fuel economy regulations force it to concentrate on picking "lots of low-hanging fruit for the future of internal combustion engines."




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Tags: Alternative Fuels, Ford, Fuel Cell, Fuel Economy, Honda, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, American Honda Motor Co., FCX Clarity, Ford Motor Co.

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Green Car Proponents Say Government Support for R&D Is Growing in Importance was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.