German vs Japanese car design philosophy

The Germans and the Japanese have different car design philosophies. Each will stick to their tried and tested approach to car design based on their automotive engineering technology and sales strategies.

The Japanese were traditionally focused on city based cars meaning that cars that are very economical in the city and were very comfortable pottering around city speeds. The Japanese were also the best at making small 4 cylinder engine cars that sipped fuel. All Japanese car makers made small cars with small engines under 1,300cc. Daihatsu were the leader in this segment making cars with 660cc which is by far the smallest in the world. The Americans were at one time laughing about the miniscule engine size. This didn't deter the Japanese car makers because when the oil price shot past US$100 per barrel, suddenly instead of laughing at the tiny engines the Japanese car companies were making, the Americans car manufacturers almost went bankrupt as people were abandoning big inefficient engine cars. The Japanese were also the pioneers in hybrid technology to further improve fuel efficiency. Japanese cars having designed their cars based on city driving conditions didn't seem to be as good on the highway at high speeds exceeding 140km/h. The typical Japanese driver would spend more time driving in the city than on the highway unlike their European counter parts. Japanese cars are also traditionally more bland to drive and didn't come across as a driver's car. The cars were economical, easy to drive and reliable.

The Germans on the other hand had a different approach to car design. Companies like BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz would regularly impress the motoring world with their new technology as each new model was introduced. These car makers made their car more luxurious and came with many innovations to distance themselves from Japanese cars. The cars are also made with a certain level of passion for driving dynamics which made the ownership experience different. The Germans also took a different route to fuel economy by down sizing engines and adding turbos to boost efficiency. Their approach to hybrid also was different compared to the Japanese as the hybrid technology was used as performance and fuel economy booster rather than being an outright detuned engine with an electronic motor attached to it. Germans in general spend more time driving on the autobahn and as a result the cars are designed to be highly fuel efficient on the highway and would comfortably sit on the highway at speeds exceeding 150km/h. German car makers currently lead the way in terms of fuel economy with the new diesel hybrid. Companies like BMW and Mercedes have been pioneering their way with diesel technology to extract maximum performance and best fuel consumption. Working in combination with hybrid technology they were able to further improve fuel consumption.

Here are some of the current innovations or technology that the Japanese and the Germans are using:-

Japanese:
- CVT transmission (not new but is used for fuel economy)
- Petrol / gasoline hybrid
- cylinder deactivation technology
- full electric car (nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi MiEV)

Germans:
- down sized engine with turbo charging
- diesel hybrid
- twin clutch gearbox
- direction injection technology for gasoline engine
- hydrogen engine (BMW)
- cylinder deactivation technology
- multi map ECU technology (allows for different levels of performance)
- active chassis and suspension control