By Gu Shuang

Not long ago, the highly concerned Technology Standard of Energy-Saving and Environment Friendly Small displacement Vehicles (hereinafter abbreviated as "Technology Standard") was examined and approved by Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technology Supervision, and is planned to put into practice in Shanghai from December 1st of 2007. It was said that the Technology Standard will assess small displacement vehicles from 8 indexes: maximum design speed, power per liter, emission standard, fuel consumption limit and noise limit, etc, mainly giving prominence to evaluation of energy saving, environment protection and safety.

Insiders reckon that Shanghai is perhaps just the beginning city. In future, there will be more local governments assessing small displacement vehicles according to this standard. News also disclosed that the State would take the standard of Shanghai as an important reference when formulating technology standard for small displacement vehicles. Therefore, since last year when big cities like Beijing and Shanghai "removed the limitations" for small displacement vehicles to make response to National Development and Reform Commission and other five Departments, small displacement vehicles will confront with new test.

As per the introduction of principal of Shanghai Automotive Trade Association, that only 40 percent of small displacement vehicles below 1.5L could meet the standard. So small displacement vehicles must be stronger from the internal and improve the overall technology in order to go into Shanghai market, make achievements throughout the country, and greet the "spring of the market". It is gratifying that the weakness of small displacement vehicles such as power per liter and emission standard have been improved along with presence of Xenia of FAW-Daihatsu and Livina of Dongfeng-Nissan.

The Technology Standard regards power per liter as one of the important criterions of judging the advance character of small displacement vehicles, it also stipulates that this mandatory index can determine whether small displacement vehicles are approved "running on the road" or not directly. But the provision also offers a time limit, what is to say, the power per liter of small displacement vehicles has to reach 50 KW before July 1st, 2009.

At present, power per liter of small vehicles in the market is generally lower than 40 KW. Thanks to the use of the latest engine of Daihatsu -DVVT, FAW- Daihatsu Xenia, the new generation small displacement vehicle, has realized power of 67 KW for 1.3L K3 engine and even 80 KW for 3SZ 1.5L engine respectively, both surpassing the provision of 50KW per liter. It is known that engine of Xenia can provide adequate torque when running at middle and low speed; it could also promise a better acceleration performance and lower noise when driving at a high speed. At the same time, Xenia is also equipped with OBD on-board diagnosis system that can satisfy the national standard III required by the Technology Standard. As for the suspension system, the front suspension of Xenia is McPherson independent suspension, and the rear suspension adopts five-linkage independent suspension, which is mostly used in middle and high grade cars. Both the front and rear suspensions are independent suspensions, enabling Xenia an excellent buffer and shock absorbing capability. Particularly, in bad road conditions, the steering stability and cling property could be improved, therefore ensuring the steering speed of vehicles. It is known that the maximum speed per hour of Xenia could reach 160km, far beyond 120km of most small displacement vehicles, and is also higher than the speed of small and medium displacement vehicles stipulated in the Technology Standard, which is 150km. The appearance and internal decoration of Xenia are also very outstanding. In the Shanghai Auto Show, Xenia won the award of "The Most Expected Small Vehicle" relying on fashionable and beautiful sculpt, and broad internal space. Now the new generation small displacement vehicles represented by FAW-Daihatsu Xenia have surpassed the technology of traditional small displacement vehicles, and the technology content has been able to meet the requirement of the coming Technology Standard.

Xenia, a small displacement vehicle with high performance, is highly technology-enabled. It also has its own advantages in respect of convenience, fuel economy and price-performance. Xenia exerts the use of space to a fairly high level: the 4.12meter-long body can be reconstructed into a space that could equip as many as three-row seats and accommodate 7 persons. On the other hand, the compact body of Xenia realized a minimum turn radius of 4.7m, enabling the vehicle to steer even in narrow road condition; the compact body is also very convenient for parking. Xenia is an entirely new product of Daihatsu specially modified according to the demand of China market; it is priced between RMB 69,800 and RMB 98,800. All of the engine (Daihatsu DVVT engine), gearbox, and rear axle assy are imported, offering products of well cost performance with high quality and high performance for domestic consumers. Further more, the great fuel economy (5~5.3 liters per hundred kilometers), plus the well-trained after-sales service system, lay a good base for the use and maintenance of Xenia in the future.

It is believable that after the first passel of small displacement vehicles like FAW-Daihatsu Xenia, which are of good crafts, fashionable appearance, and nice cost performance, come into the market, the overall technology of domestic small displacement vehicles will inevitably be improved so as to satisfy the consumers' demand of continuous improving technology and quality.