Petrol positioned for a comeback – coverage

Regular readers will be aware of the significant publicity generated by our earlier story this week. In conjunction with completecar.ie we conducted an analysis of the new car market and observed that petrol engines are positioned for a comeback. This is based on a combination of factors, including, the lower list-prices of many variants, the reduced Co2  emissions, and the higher fuel consumption figures for “new-generation” petrol models.

The reason for the new-found competitiveness of the petrol engine lies in the research and development work which the manufacturers have put into petrol engines over the course of the last few years. New petrol engines come with many of the positive attributes which afforded diesel such a considerable advantage when the tax regime was changed in 2008: a combination of fuel injection, turbos, increased power efficiency of the engine lower down the rev range, and added torque means the petrol engine of today more closely resembles the equivalent diesel. “Big Business” too is evolving – F1 next year will introduce a 1.6 litre turbo petrol-aspirated engine as the standard engine for their sport – a move unthinkable a few years ago. Furthermore, with the likely future changes to the current emissions regime which will focus on pollutants and particulates more generally, as well as Co2 emissions, petrol engines are well placed to regain lost ground in the market as petrol engines are clean-burning.

In this clip, our Legal & PR Manger John P Byrne talks to Brian Finn, RTE, on Morning Edition on Tuesday morning about some of the research results.