Environmental and science groups gang up on Toyota over CAFE
It looks like Toyota's time as the automotive darling of the green movement may be at an end as they now become the new whipping boy over CAFE. A group of nine organizations have launched a new web site at TruthAboutToyota.com slamming the Japanese automaker for fighting the fuel economy proposal that was passed by the US Senate last spring. The group consists of organizations like the Union of Concerned Scientists, the NRDC, the US Public Interest Research Group and more. They are also running a full page ad in USA Today accusing the company of duplicity for publicly promoting new technology like hybrids while lobbying Congress to weaken new mileage rules in the background. While much of what the group is saying is true, the fact remains that while Toyota is opposed to the Senate bill, they are supporting the Hill-Terry bill in the House. While the latter bill is weaker than the Senate version it does still increase mileage. Check out the press release after the jump.Gallery: 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Related:
[Source: National Environmental Trust, thanks to Kerry for the tip]
TOYOTA: MOVING BACKWARD
National Environmental Groups Expose Toyota's Duplicity on Fuel Economy
Washington, DC – Nine of the nation's leading environmental and science-based organizations targeted Toyota today for the company's opposition to legislation before Congress to set the first meaningful increase in fuel economy standards in nearly 30 years. As the producer of the hybrid Prius and other fuel-efficient vehicles, Toyota has publicly opposed a bipartisan Senate compromise to increase fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon fleet wide by 2020. In response, the organizations have sent a letter to Toyota North America Chairman and CEO, Shigeru Hayakawa, asking him to stop the companies lobby efforts to "weaken, delay, or eliminate" meaningful fuel economy standards.
At the same time, the groups will run a full page ad targeting Toyota in USA Today and launch a Web site, TruthAboutToyota.com, to highlight the disconnect between Toyota's public commitment to better technology and higher fuel economy and its efforts behind the scenes to block this important environmental legislation.
"Just because Toyota is taking over General Motor's market share does not mean that Toyota has to take on GM's anti-environmental lobbying practices," said Brendan Bell, Washington Representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The new Web site gives owners of fuel-efficient Toyota vehicles the opportunity to send a letter to Hayakawa expressing their concern with the company's stance on fuel efficiency. In addition, consumers and Prius owners in 15 states will hold rallies at Toyota dealerships to raise questions about the company's opposition to greater fuel economy standards.
"Toyota needs to start living up to its slogan, 'moving forward' instead of driving us backward," said Philip Clapp, President of the National Environmental Trust.
In June, the Senate passed a bipartisan compromise to increase the fleet wide fuel economy of new vehicles to 35 miles per gallon by 2020. When fully implemented, the Senate bill would reduce U.S. oil consumption by 1.2 million barrels per day – more than twice as much as is currently imported from Iraq. It would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 200 million metric tons per year in 2020; the equivalent of taking over 31 million vehicles off the road every year.
"Being seen as a green automaker has been great for Toyota's sales. The company changed the game by putting hybrid technology on the road. If Toyota expects to keep that image, they should stop lobbying against the strongest fuel economy improvement in over 30 years," said Frances Beinecke, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The letter, the ad and the TruthAboutToyota.com site are supported by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Environmental Trust, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Friends of the Earth, Conservation Law Foundation and Environment California. For more information please visit
http://www.truthabouttoyota.com.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Travis Rassat 2:58PM (10/11/2007)
I'm not quite sure what the intent of this movement is. Why does it have to turn into a smear campaign? Why is there all of this anger because Toyota happens to not agree with a certain piece of legislation? Sure, Toyota talks a lot about being green, but so do other manufacturers who also happen to oppose this new legislation. I don't understand why people have singled out Toyota - if anything, they're probably still ahead of the curve compared to most manufacturers - so why not lash out at someone else, too? What message are they trying to send? I get the impression that there is more to this than disagreement about environmental issues, and it's probably much more politically charged than I would care to get into.
Nonetheless, I hope Toyota reacts in the way a market leader should, and continues to develop and sell better, more environmentally-responsible products. I'm not defending Toyota, but they're a big corporation, and they're going to continue doing what they've done to become a big corporation. I honestly think they do intend to continue to be more enviromentally aware, but would rather do it on their own terms than have laws cause them to essentially shift their focus and disrupt their development cycle for only one of the many markets that they cover.
Obviously, there are others who Toyota has some master evil plan, and I will respect their intent, but I think there could be a more positive way of addressing it than some sort of smear campaign that just makes everyone look bad. If you don't like them, don't buy their products. It would probably be more effective. If someone wants to boycott a company because they don't agree with their philosophies or whatever, more power to them, but why expend so much energy to try and drag their name through the mud, too? Why not take that energy and do something positive?
I just don't understand, I guess.
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jm99 5:38PM (10/11/2007)
Travis, it seems to me like the reason for a lot of this new-found venom towards Toyota is actually pretty simple: people tend to single out the largest company in a particular market when criticizing that market. It happened to GM for years, and now that Toyota is the world-wide #1, it seems the mantle has been passed. Chalk it up to the price of supplanting GM - Toyota wanted to be the biggest, and now they are, with everything that entails.
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Travis Rassat 6:43PM (10/11/2007)
Well said, jm99. I was kind of thinking along those lines. It just seems a bit excessive and counterproductive. Thanks for your response!
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AutoNut 2:53PM (10/13/2007)
JM99, you hit the nail square on the head. I wrote about this in a post in my blog, autoramblings.com, back in April '07, when Toyota was just reported as producing more product than GM. Whether it is productive or not, Toyota is going through exactly what GM has had to endure for many years. I think it is about darn time Toyota, the media's perceived darling of the automotive industry, gets to feel what it is like being the medias new whipping boy. GM and Ford have been making some really great product the last few years and have been pounded on mercilessly for a long time for not being as good as Toyota.
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MadMez 8:51PM (10/14/2007)
I can't help hoping, though, that the marketing people at Toyota might be spured into increasing the %of Toyota's line-up having Hybrid Synergy drives available. I don't claim to be an expert but the intro of a Hybrid RAV, using the Camry's and a Hybrid Sienna using the new Highlanders Synergy drives should help achieve this goal, no?
And while we're at it why can't Toyota finally make that flying car I've wanted since the 1961 Popular Science said I'd have it 10 years ago? Eh? Explain that you so-called Toyota-moving-forward-stick-in-the-muds.
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Mark 12:55PM (10/16/2007)
Here's a way I supported your the cause. I went to:
http://www.toyota.com/toyota/vehicles/ebrochure.jsp?s_van=GM_STN_EBROCHURE
and filled out the form with the name:
First: Iwanna Last: Phevenowplease
Just a thought.
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Marcia 2:27PM (10/17/2007)
Toyota is number one, so now the others try to knock it down. We love our Toyotas. Wouldn't even consider driving any other brand of vehicles.
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Richard 2:53PM (10/17/2007)
Of course Toyota is against the legistlation, that will push the other auto makers to increase their MPG numbers and therefore decrease Toyota's competitive edge in that market. Please people don't be so nieve, "environmentalism" (corporate or individual), still comes down to the bottom line. It's all about dollars & cents.
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Tim Dion 2:54PM (10/17/2007)
Could it be a way of maintaining market share? Think of it this way: if Toyota opposes the CAFE standard, and other manufacturers still refuse to produce more efficient vehicles than Toyota, then Toyota reaps the benefit of already having a fleet of models that may be more attractive to the buying public. At the risk of sounding like a 'conspiracy theorist', I think the folks at Toyota could easily meet the CAFE MPG standard with the cars they presently have on sale as well as the vehicles presently on the drawing board. It just makes perfect maketing sense to force your competitions' hand.
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Ray 3:44PM (10/17/2007)
Fleet millage 35mpg by 2020what a crock the U.S. fleet millage of 22mpg proposed by our government 15 years ago still has not been reached.
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GreatR 3:39PM (10/17/2007)
Its pretty simple the UAW is behind this "outrage."Those slugs can't keep their jobs and can't increase their membership. Now as GM loses market share more of their phoney baloney jobs will be lost, good. I was thinking of trying Cadillac again, but I'm going out and get a new Lexus, Buy Quality not location.
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Ray 3:43PM (10/17/2007)
Fleet millage 35MPG by 2020, what a crock. The U. S. still has not reached the last fleet millage of 22mpg passed by congress 15 years ago
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DJoseph 5:45PM (10/17/2007)
The entire world has gone crazy in their marketing schemes, their politics and just because they are basically vitriolic.
I recently returned from my trip to Bar Harbor, Maine in my new Toyota V6 sedan, and unless someone's playing internal games with the displays- The car averaged 32 mpg. I think that's pretty good! Not worth having a tantrum over.
Its ride is smooth, uses regular gas, handles very well.
Yes it's quite unfortunate they haven't gotten it to be powered on water or air.
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Don 4:00PM (10/17/2007)
It's easy to slam any automaker on this issue but the fact remains our worst enemy is ourselves in the choices we make purchasing a car or truck. We want good mileage because of the price of fuel.
So what do half of us buy? Large SUV's. Case in point,have a friend who purchased a Ford Expedition
Eddy Bauer EL with a 300hp engine. Cost about 40k.
Oh can't forget it's an 8seater. It's their family car,wife and two kids. Didn't have it two months before he bitched about the monthly fuel cost.
He's a long time friend,but you know what? I don'd feel sorry for him!
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David Kaplan 5:43PM (10/17/2007)
32 mpg from New Jersey to Maine and back, not bad for a V6 -- Runs, on regular, handles well, smooth ride, fit and finish. NOt only is CAFE a bit vitriolic, but Consumers' Report has gone ballistic themselves. I used to use them as the bible on just about anything I've purchased, but now since the are out-sourcing tests I no longer can believe that they are the cat's meow. My Toyota is just purring along.
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D,A, 4:12PM (10/17/2007)
I agree with the criticisms of Toyota for not meeting the CAFE standards. I now own my second Camry. My first one got 33 mpg up to and including the day I turned it in after 9 years. The best I have done with my present Camry (equipped identically to my previous one) is 23 mpg. Of course, we all now know that the mpg info on the window stickers has been "fudged" and has nothing to do with actual performance. I think truthfulness of sticker info should be required or an EPA fine should be imposed and 35 mpg by 2020 is a far too modest goal -- it should be at least 40 mpg at the very least, by 2020.
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Llorynette 4:17PM (10/17/2007)
People are just trying to bring down toyota because they are the #1 selling vehicle in the market and the best make of vehicle you can buy. Nothing trumps a Toyota and never will.
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Steven Van Nostrand 4:29PM (10/17/2007)
I bought my Toyota because it was statistically guaranteed to perform better and last longer than the virtual crap shoots I have taken on every other American model I have owned. The fact that it gets great mileage on top of superior reliability is a bonus. Taking Toyota to task for doing what all the American car companies have been doing since the ‘70’s is disingenuous at best considering they are the source of real automotive leadership. I keep hearing that GM is going to kick a$$ one day with all their innovation but all they do is either the same old or follow in Toyota’s footsteps.
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jack 4:32PM (10/17/2007)
#7 Marcia.. so love your toyota.. i can take any GM car.. outlast you, spend $1000's less on maintenance,, $1000's less at time of purchase, and at the same time support an American company.
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jack 8:03PM (10/17/2007)
to steven van nostril...
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