CLEAN CAR WARS HOW HONDA AND TOYOTA ARE WINNING THE BATTLE OF THE ECO-FRIENDLY AUTOS BY YOZO HASEGAWA, TRANSLATED BY ANTHONY KIMM WILEY, PAGES: 200; PRICE: $24.95 A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE HAS BEEN TAKING PLACE in the auto industry since the 1960s and 1970s. The first was the birth of green movement with Rachel Carlson's 1962 book Silent Spring, which sparked public awareness against environmental damage. The second was the 1973 oil crisis that happened after the Oil and Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut supplies to nations that, according to them, helped Israel during the Yom Kippur war. This forever linked oil supplies to (in)stability in the Middle East. The third was a reaction to the first two events. In an effort to stem high fuel prices and curb pollution, the US and then Japan - the largest car making countries - enforced stricter fuel consumption and emissions standards for cars. Author and journalist Yozo Hasegawa's book, CLEAN CAR WARS, looks at how Japanese auto giants Toyota and Honda, understood and capitalised on this shift much faster than US auto giants such as General Motors and Ford. Hasegawa (and several auto industry experts) believes that the fuel efficiency and pocket-friendliness of Japanese cars are what have made them best sellers. With nearly $250 billion revenues last year, Toyota is now $70 billion ahead of nearest rival, General Motors. Hasegawa has spent decades covering the global auto industry. Clean Car Wars is a consolidation of several articles he wrote on the emergence of green vehicles. While much of the writing is Japan-centric, Hasegawa does dedicate several pages to emerging technologies and concepts from other countries. The most important aspect of this book is that Hasegawa gives readers an insider'sunderstanding of the fundamental changes affecting in today's auto industry. His argument is simple. Green cars are the only way car makers will remain competitive in a future that's increasingly worried about $110 oil and climate change.