Honda is testing the market to see if there is a demand for gas powered small engines.
Honda National original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sales manager Erkan Bagdadi said LPG was used widely in South East Asia.
He said Honda was evaluating the roll-out of its GX200 and GX390 engines.
The engines were unveiled at Honda’s annual OEM press day, at Lancefield, last month.
“Obviously petrol engines are the most populat, but the LPG engine was released into the Asian market, where petrol is hard to source, hence the LPG was a better option” Mr Bagdadi said.
“We have been given the opportunity to evaluate it in the Australian market, to find out if we have avenues for the engine. It’s more of a conversation between ourselves and our OEM network, in regards to where the opportunities may found, for the LPG engines.”
He said Honda’s OEM network would be encouraged to ask customers about the demand for LPG engines.
Some areas where it might prove advantageous were in night construction and in irrigation.
“When you are working on roads, at night, you need a generator to run the lights and the benefits the GX390 will run for 10 hours, when connected to a 50kg gas cylinder, compared with a petrol engine, which will run for 1.7hours.
“It’s ideal in irrigation, too, where a farmer needs to water overnight, or for a long duration.”
Mr Bagdadi said Honda was gathering information, through its sales channels, before evaluating the engine specifications.
“It’s more gathering interest, from our OEM’s, as to where the sales channels may lie, from there.
“If the specification is ideal for the OEM, through our factories we have an option to change specificiations, for the engine.
“That is a long process, so it could take anywhere up to 12 months, before we see LPG engines on the market,” he said.
“But in a lot of rural sectors they already have LPG gas cylinders connected to the home, so it is something they are already sourcing.
“It could be a plus, in that area.”