Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Wednesday it will begin marketing a hybrid minicar equipped with a 660cc gasoline engine and an electric motor in 2001.
The new hybrid car will be 50 percent more fuel efficient than conventional vehicles, Fuji Heavy President Takeshi Tanaka claimed. The minicar will be based on the Pleo, a Fuji Heavy minicar now on the market.
The firm also plans to release a sports-utility vehicle carrying a 2.5-liter gasoline direct injection engine in 2001, Tanaka said. It will be the firm's first automobile with a gasoline direct injection engine, which generally has better fuel economy and low carbon dioxide emissions.