Are Green Cars at the Green Light?

By Gilbert Chao on August 8, 2015

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Today, motorists is shifting to sustainable mobility. Their main focus is to achieve the best mileage of their car as well as preserved the environment. Globally, ecco-friendly cars are well-recognized because of its use in the environment.

Carmudi analyzed millions of listings on the company’s car classifieds website and the data shows that auto demand worldwide, including Philippines, are shifting towards greener rides.

Carmudi found out that countries in the Middle East such as UAE and Qatar are still in love with their SUVs. The number of eco-friendly car listings in the country stand at 5.8% and 1.88% respectively, but green cars are slowly becoming a more attractive option for car buyers.

In Pakistan, green cars have also gained traction in recent years with the number of hybrid cars listed online growing 85 percent in the past two years, alongside a 17.48 percent slump in listings for petrol-fueled cars in the country. This trend goes hand in hand with governmental policies to improve the country’s air quality and cut carbon commissions in the coming decade.

In Sri Lanka, 43.5 percent of cars listed for sale are eco-friendly cars, and out of those, 93 percent consist of hybrid cars. The hybrid car market in Sri Lanka is monopolized by the likes of Honda’s Insight Hybrid model and Toyota’s Prius Hybrid Synergy Drive models. Carmudi Sri Lanka also saw growth in the number of electric car listings, which grew four percent in the past 12 months.

In the Philippines, although the number in the listings is not as big as its neighboring countries with only 2%, the country is gearing towards sustainable mobility with the arrival of some eco-friendly transport such as E-jeepneys and E-trikes that runs on batteries.

Subir Lohani, managing director of Carmudi Philippines, said, “Seeing a lot of eco-friendly cars is a great sign that now motorists knows the importance of being conscious in the environment. The worsening air quality is due to increase number of vehicles that not properly maintain.”

“With some eco-cars now available in our doorstep, this would be a good opportunity to combat the effect of climate change,” adds Lohani.

Despite the apparent shift towards green rides in Asia and Middle East, countries in Africa have yet to jump on the bandwagon. Carmudi saw low percentages of eco-friendly cars listed for sale on the platform from West African countries such as Senegal (0.79%), Ghana (0.55%), Nigeria (0.37%), and Ivory Coast (0.26%). The slow adaptation can also be seen in East and Central African countries such as Cameroon (0.97%) and Tanzania (0.70%).

So will the emerging markets continue to grow more fond of environmentally-friendly cars? Carmudi predicts that motorheads in Africa will stick with gas-guzzling petrol-powered cars. In the Middle East, the eco-friendly trend will pick up in the coming years as many federal institutions across the region have begun to adopt electric or hybrid cars while motorists in Asia will most likely switch to greener and more economical rides in the near future.

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