The Toyota Camry Hybrid was the first hybrid car to ever be named car of the year by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada. (CBC)

Auto manufacturers may be touting the age of environmentally friendly alternatives of hybrid, diesel and fuel cell technologies but, in fact, it's fuel efficiency that really sets the earnest motors of Canadians rumbling and growling.

"We like our small cars," Richard Cooper, the executive director of the marketing group J.D. Power and Associates, said at the Canadian International Auto Show.

"We're already fuel efficient so that's why hybrid technology is not growing as fast as perhaps the public might think when you listen to the media reports and to the news."

A critical darling, hybrid cars boost fuel efficiency by using two motors — a combustion engine and an electric motor. At the 2007 Canadian International Auto Show, the Toyota Camry Hybrid was named the car of the year by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada — the first time a hybrid vehicle has ever won the honours.

"It's a shift that's happening, I think, both amongst Canadian consumers who are becoming increasingly interested in hybrid vehicles and also manufacturers like ourselves who have created multiple lines of hybrid," said Kathryn Ruhland, a spokeswoman for Toyota Canada.

"I think this win, it's a real endorsement for this evolution of the automobile."

Ford Canada says it will begin producing hybrids in Canada by 2010. General Motors of Canada also announced plans at the auto show to build hybrid vehicles in Canada with a rollout date of the fall of 2008.

Already considered a leader, Toyota estimates it will have sold over a million hybrids worldwide by 2010. According to the most recent figures, hybrids made up about 10,000 of the 1.6 million vehicles sold in Canada in 2006, according to Desrosiers Automotive Consultants.

Stalled penetration into the market

Compact and sub-compact cars still largely dominate the Canadian market, says Cooper, who adds that this preference is precisely what has been stalling hybrid penetration into the market.

"If you're driving a small Honda Civic or a Toyota Yaris or a Mazda 3 or a Nissan Versa or a Chevy Cobalt, those are fuel-efficient vehicles already," said Cooper. "To pay an extra three to five thousand dollars to get a twenty-five per cent improvement — or maybe even less than that, a fifteen-per-cent improvement — in fuel economy: it's going to be a tough thing for Canadians to do."

Industry analyst Dennis Desrosiers says that if Canadians realized the potential of the hybrid, they would be willing to spend a little more.

"The electric engine delivers better performance at the low end startup of a vehicle, delivers torque very efficiently at low speeds, and then gas kicks in and delivers the torque and the performance better at high speeds," Desrosiers said.

"You actually get an overall better performance product with hybrids and it is worth therefore the $2,000 to $3,000."

Fuel efficiency trumps environment

Indeed, Canadians' preference for thrift and dependability tends to trump environmental concerns, says Chris Travell, the vice-president of Maritz Research's Automotive group.

A survey of 38,500 Canadians asked what they prized most when buying a new car. Value for money, fuel economy and reliability were the top answers. Concerns about the environment ranked 23rd.

Travell says over the past four years, Canadians have ranked environmental concerns at the bottom of the list as a primary purchase motivator. He says while it's true that most Canadians drive compact, fuel-efficient cars, that decision is often driven by financial considerations over environmental commitment.

"It's not as much, I love the environment so I'm going to buy a compact car but it's more I get great fuel efficiency and it doesn't cost me as much to fill up so I buy a compact car," he said.

"The positive spinoff, of course, is that it tends to be better for the environment."

Diesel vs. hybrid vs. ethanol: 'A dog fight'

Desrosiers disagrees, saying consumer patterns have already shown that Canadians are green-minded and willing to embrace developing technologies.

He says more Canadians would be willing to buy hybrids if there were more vehicles available.

He suggests, however, that the hybrid market is facing considerable competition with two other technologies racing to take the lead. Specifically, diesel and E85 — a blend of ethanol and gasoline — are two potential threats to hybrid cars.

"It's a dog fight in terms of who grabs the ultimate fuel lead," Desrosiers says. "It looks as if diesel is going to be the short-term winner but it's going to be a real battle."

Diesel, a fuel made from petroleum, has long been used to power cars in Europe. Desrosiers estimates less than 10,000 diesel passenger cars were sold in Canada in 2006 along with an additional 30,000 to 40,000 light trucks.

While E85 is an inexpensive fuel that emits fewer greenhouse gases, availability will be E85's largest hurdle to clear, Desrosiers says. Ottawa is home to Canada's only E85 pump.

Eliza Grady purchased a Mercedes Benz Smart Car, which runs on diesel, in January 2005 and says fuel economy was one of her prime considerations.

Grady said she considered buying a hybrid vehicle but found that they were too pricey. Many hybrid vehicles in Canada are only available on luxury or intermediate vehicles.

Grady is now a diesel convert and fervently believes in the future of biodiesel, a diesel equivalent processed from natural, renewable resources including vegetable oil.

"In Japan, almost over 20 years ago, they converted the deep fry oil they used to make tempura and they converted it to biodiesel. This is something we are so far behind," Grady said.

"I really hope the biodiesel will be very popular because this is the cleanest thing that will fit into our modern lifestyle the best. Biodiesel is renewable and it's very good to the planet. And maybe one day my car will smell like french fries."

Travell says he expects consumer patterns to shift in the future, where more consumers will be able to make cost concerns and social responsibility co-exist.

"There's a disconnect that is happening between what people are saying as far as the importance of the environment and how it's actually manifesting itself in car buying behaviour," he said.

"It's reasonable to expect over time as more manufacturers offer hybrids that we're going to see a lot more of them on the road in Canada and that's obviously going to be good for all of us."

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