The lean improvement of the chemical emissions of motor vehicles based on preference ranking: A PROMETHEE uncertainty analysis

The motor vehicle has provided mobility and individual freedom for millions of people. However, vehicles embody the dilemma of contemporary industrialisation in that the environmental costs of automobility are equally large. This non-country specific study undertakes a PROMETHEE-based preference ranking of a small set of motor vehicles based on constituents of their exhaust emissions. As a model of an interested party's preference ranking of the motor vehicles, the subsequent uncertainty (sensitivity) analysis considered here, relates to what minimal (lean) changes would be necessary to a vehicle's emissions so that their preference ranking is improved. For a particular manufacturer, it can identify the necessary engineering performance modifications to be made to improve their perceived consumer based ranking. This is compounded by a further consideration of different levels of importance conferred on the criteria (vehicle emissions) and analogous analyses undertaken. The visual elucidation of the results rankings and changes to criteria values, offers a clear presentation of the findings to the interested parties. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.