More automakers make their true feelings known about CAFE
Though BMW was the first automaker to contact the Bush Administration with concerns about the latest CAFE rules, it didn't take long for more to speak up. As represented by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Detroit 3, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and others have banded together to proclaim the demands too harsh. Especially considering the current state of automotive affairs, the Alliance alleges that it will be too costly to either meet the goals set out in the latest CAFE standards or face the fines for not meeting them. It is certainly true that most automakers are finding it tough to sell vehicles in these days of turbulent fuel prices and a damaged economy in the U.S. Eighty-percent of the auto market in the states is represented by the Auto Alliances members, so the issues presented by the groups are sure to be taken seriously. With other groups, including Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, wanting to actually increase the CAFE requirements even further, the auto manufacturers seem to have their work cut out for them.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Remus 2:09PM (7/02/2008)
I don't think they should cut them any slack. Rules are setup for us as a consumer and we need better vehicles to meet our demands as economy changes.
If we have to make changes, so should the auto industry.
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stevezilla 9:42AM (7/03/2008)
notably NOT complaining..... Honda.
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BlackbirdHighway 2:19PM (7/02/2008)
Funny, another article, http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/02/carmakers-struggle-to-keep-up-with-demand-for-small-cars/
says that carmakers can't keep up with demand for the very same cars that generally DO meet the CAFE requirements.
So, the carmakers already have the cars developed, the Gov't wants the carmakers to make them, and the customers want to buy them.
The only thing standing in the way is that the carmakers aren't build enough of the right cars, and too many of the wrong cars.
So, naturally, they blame CAFE.
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Max Pinton 2:26PM (7/02/2008)
"... most automakers are finding it tough to sell vehicles in these days of turbulent fuel prices and a damaged economy in the U.S."
Is this sarcasm? Automakers can't even keep up with the demand for small, fuel-efficient vehicles. CAFE standards should be higher, not lower.
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Lou Grinzo 3:16PM (7/02/2008)
I think this is a ridiculous issue. Who here thinks that by 2020 the car companies will be able to find a significant number of customers for a mix of vehicles that DON'T meet the 35MPG fleet average?
Sometimes I think the car companies object to such regulations, even when they're effectively meaningless (as in this case), purely to help build the case for the next issue: "See??? We keep complaining and the mean old government keeps making us do things we don't want to! How much can we take???"
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EV-1 3:44PM (7/02/2008)
I want to sell homemade jam.
It's a bit poisonous.
Goverment Control Authorities want to restrain my business,
at least to make my jam less poisonous.
Now I file a Looud complaint about that !
And to boost the loudness, I'm gathering a bunch of friends
who also sell slightly poisonous jam.
Our complait is :
We'll have a harder time making such shameless profits like we did before, with these restrictions ! Bohooo !
P.S. "Lou Grinzo" - good post ! *thumbsup*
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Wildgoosechase73 4:30PM (7/02/2008)
Sure it is technically feasable to meet the CAFE requirement, just not at a profit for some makes. GM will be selling the Volt for $40k at a loss. As automakers shift production to smaller cars, profit margins drop. Consider that GM's per unit cost for retired workers benefits is more than the cost of steel. The big 3 will go bankrupt and will dump pension benefits in reorganization on to the taxpayers through the Pension Gaurantee fund. 82,000 jobs will vanish but many will be replaced by Walmart. But at least we sill be making a negligable effect on the environment.
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stas peterson 7:54PM (7/02/2008)
Autos will easily meet the 35 mpg standards. The measuring standdards are no where near the ones published on the window stickers, by EPA.
Light trucks are quite another thing.
Trucks have certain properties that just prevent them from approaching much more than 28-30 mpgas CAFE measures mpg.
CAFE is adminisitered by NHTSA, not EPA, and they have administered the exactly same index ever since started in the '70s when cars averaged under 18 mpg for that auto model fleet. Even subcompacts like the VW beetle didn't get 18 mpg. It got 16% under the standard at 16 mpg. Today it tough to find even the largest SUVs that doesn't far surpass that . (don't forget they all get more than 22.7 mpg under the CAFE standards. The same Index today said the 2006 auto sales mix when we were pumping out SUVS, achieved a 30.7 mpg.
That's correct, four point three mpg, say it again 4.3 mpg, less than the standard to improve to in 2020. In this 2008 sales year, with more small cars, and lots fewer higher consumption vehicles, I don't doubt that the achieved CAFE for 2008 model cars will not meet the 35mpg CAFE target. Thats 12 years ahead of schedule.
But trucks will still not be much better than 23-24 mpg by CAFE measures. By 2010, truck CAFE should jump to about CAFE measured 27-28 mpg as clean diesels, T2B5 diesels, spread over the truck fleets. But then it will plateau. And it won't get much higher, except by downsizing and that won't go very far; perhaps 1 or 2 mpg.
The auto makers will be faced with fines for every truck sold, and you won't find any auto maker in the world making trucks getting 35 mpg, except for the tiny delivery wagons, like the Ford Transit imported in 2009 and sold in other parts of the world. GM, Toyota, Niissan, and others have these vehicles but no one saw a market, and just haven't imported them until now. But they aren't trucks. They are tall roof station wagons. Subcompacts with a truck high roof,
The only hope ithat they can drive their auto fleets up by an additional 10-15 mpg or so for each car to offset the 8 mpg truck shortfall.
Its no wonder the auto makers are trying to draw the line in the sand, now.
.
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Mr. Blake 5:11PM (7/02/2008)
Since I don't work for an automobile company, I don't know how feasible the new CAFE standards are for automakers...however, what I do know is that the real issue that we should be worrying about is that we are running short on fossil fuels and need to be investing in alternative energy. More efficient gasoline engines will only prolong the problem, not solve it. The CAFE standards are a short-term solution to one of the world's most pressing long-term problems.
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Brandon 7:44AM (7/07/2008)
Many of these same car makers have been losing money in the US for the last couple of years selling low mpg junk while in Europe where they actually have a CAFE of near 35mpg RIGHT NOW they are making tons of money. Why don't they bring the cars from Europe that they are making money on here?
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DJL 7:55PM (7/02/2008)
Hmmm......
Lutz says 35mpg AVERAGE will cost $4000 per car.
$4000 amortized over 6 years at 6% interest is $66 per month or about $800 per year.
The difference in fuel cost for a car that travels 15000 miles per year at $4 per gallon is $685 if mpg improves from 25mpg to 35 mpg.
Sounds to me like the cost to a consumer is about $115 per year.
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Paul 9:09PM (7/02/2008)
Yup, and try it for trucks (going from say 15MPG to 27MPG) and then try it for the $8 - $12 that gas will be running in 2020, and then tell me that $4000 isn't a bargain. I'll give you a hint. You're saving more than double. The auto alliance are all just getting their waa-waa's in before they grin, bear-it, and learn to prosper in a slightly different marketplace. It is all short-term pain for them, but since they are all public companies with shareholders demanding short-term profits, long-term windfalls simply aren't an appealing option.
The Other Bob 8:27AM (7/03/2008)
Wildgoosechase73 said...
"Sure it is technically feasable to meet the CAFE requirement, just not at a profit for some makes. GM will be selling the Volt for $40k at a loss. As automakers shift production to smaller cars, profit margins drop. Consider that GM's per unit cost for retired workers benefits is more than the cost of steel. The big 3 will go bankrupt and will dump pension benefits in reorganization on to the taxpayers through the Pension Gaurantee fund. 82,000 jobs will vanish but many will be replaced by Walmart. But at least we sill be making a negligable effect on the environment."
Amen my friend. You get it.
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bill 10:00AM (7/03/2008)
CAFE standards are mostly political bull shit so elected officials can stand in front of their voters and say they did something to make things better for them. People drive what they can afford to drive. Car makers sell what people want and can afford to pay for. It is not that complicated.
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brn 10:09AM (7/03/2008)
"notably NOT complaining..... Honda."
notably letting others take the PR hit, while they reap the rewards....Honda.
Silence means nothing.
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ecd4me 10:55AM (7/03/2008)
Big Auto was able to bribe those poiticians who controlled the Congress and the Whitehouse for the last eight years. Our nutless and corrupt govt was unable or unwilling to take steps to curb demand growth, so now high prices will do the job.
The unpleasant truth is that we need high energy prices to change consumption habits and enable development of new and renewable supplies of energy. So we'll just make the rich super rich while we struggle to get there. We're in for a rough spell, no quick or easy answers.
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