Some Cars Have Technology Is Smarter

Now a days The car makers are trying to introducing new technology every day . They are trying to compete each other. For years, cars were low-tech machines that belched smoke, and could be fixed by someone with a third-grade education and a monkey wrench. No longer. Today's automobiles are masterpieces of integrated technology, near-perfect marriages of fiberglass and microchips that offer more comfort and cutting-edge features than a space shuttle. But the question on many drivers' minds these days is whether the current crop of cars is smart in the right way.

The problem: Brilliant engineers in Detroit, Toyota City, and Stuttgart have spent millions of man hours coming up with better ways to deploy a side air bag or hold a coffee cup. But what is becoming increasingly apparent is that they should also have been spending more time and money devising technology to improve fuel-efficiency in a car people actually want to buy.

At some point over the past few decades the auto industry found itself focusing more on the superficial aspects of cars. True, safety and reliability ratings have soared across the board for nearly every manufacturer, yet these were refinements, not radical adjustments. Auto designers have never lacked for bold ideas, but it has been the fault of management for failing to push harder in new directions and take risks. This short-term focus is responsible for landing automakers, especially the Detroit 3, in their current mess.

How big of a mess? In June, auto sales fell 18% across the board, with only a few smaller or more fuel-efficient cars such as Honda's (HMC) Fit and Accord showing a modest gain. Sales of trucks, SUVs, and luxury cars were all down—28.8%, 37.7%, and 21.6%, respectively—from the same month in 2007, according to Autodata.

Shifting Gears

Since the early days of the automobile, visionaries and crackpots alike have experimented with different ways to make a car go. Yet since the Stanley Steamer, there has been little serious competition to the internal combustion engine. That's because for the first 70 years or so of the automobile's existence, gasoline was so cheap no alternative was needed. But with the energy crisis of the 1970s, the long-term viability of gas-powered cars was first seriously called into question. However, instead of taking the hint and throwing themselves into developing serious alternative engine technology, for the most part the automakers did nothing.

Fortunately, that is finally changing. Over the past few years, as the price of oil has climbed and car sales have suffered, automakers have scrambled to offer more fuel-efficient vehicles. Some makers, such as Toyota (TM) and Honda, were already bringing hybrid cars to market, including Toyota's Prius, and most had some form of alternative-fuel skunkworks in their budget. But for the most part they were caught flat-footed by the sudden surge in demand for fuel-economic cars.

Take BMW (BMWG) and Mercedes-Benz (DAI), for example. Both companies are renowned for the performance and elegance of their cars, but they had been so successful making diesels for the European market that they never seriously explored hybrid or electric technologies. Their hope was that diesel would one day become a viable alternative in the U.S., where for years many states, such as California and New York, have banned the sale of noncommercial diesel vehicles. (Currently the Mercedes E320 Bluetec is the only diesel car that can be leased—but not purchased—in these states as of October 2007.