Venezuela changes to natural gas cars

Venezuela, the biggest oil exporter in the Americas, will trade gas-guzzlers for new vehicles that run on natural gas and provide drivers with natural gas for their cars for a year in a bid to boost gasoline exports.
The old cars will be recycled and the country will profit from increased fuel exports, President Hugo Chavez said.

"We're going to exchange these mobile squanderers with a beautiful modern family vehicle that uses gas that doesn't cost anything," Chavez said.
"The gasoline we save we're going to export. We won't be giving away anything, it's a national savings and environmental plan."

Venezuelan drivers often use old cars with poor fuel economy because new cars are costly and fuel is cheap.
The country has the world's second-cheapest fuel after Turkmenistan, according to German aid agency GTZ.