Bloomberg
Automobile News
Wed, 5 May 1999, 12:25am EDT
U.S. Automakers, Gore Meet to Discuss New Generation Vehicles
U.S. Automakers, Gore Meet to Discuss New Generation Vehicles
Detroit, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and
DaimlerChrysler AG executives met with Vice President Al Gore today to
discuss a new generation of automobiles and the possibility of making
sport-utility vehicles more fuel efficient.
While the meeting with automakers was closed and details of the talks weren't
available, auto executives said beforehand they expected topics to range from
new clean-air standards to the feasibility of tripling sport-utility fuel economy to
60 miles per gallon. ''There were some positive and constructive discussions
concerning SUVs as part of the initiatives,'' said Chris Lehane, a press secretary
for the vice president, who was in Detroit for a public conference on quality-of-life
issues.
Federal regulators last week proposed clean air standards aimed at cutting the
allowable amount of nitrous oxide emissions for cars and light trucks about 90
percent, in part by removing more sulfur from gasoline. Oil refiners say the policy
could cost them as much as $6 billion over the next decade. Automakers say
they need oil companies to make even cleaner fuels than the standards propose
in order meet the pollution rules. ''Sulfur poisons catalytic converters,'' said
Stephen Zimmer, DaimlerChrysler's director of New Generation Vehicles. ''We
hope to get sulfur content below 5 parts per million'' to the 30 parts per million in
the proposal.
Executives attending the meeting included Ford's chief executive, Jacques
Nasser, and Vice Chairman Peter Pestillo, a company spokesman said.
The meeting also comes as a government and industry group called Partnership
for Next Generation Vehicles works to develop midsize sedans that could get up
to 80 miles a gallon. A prototype is slated for 2004. The partnership must remain
focused on development of the midsize car, Zimmer said, and apply technology
from that research to other models.
Earlier, Gore delivered a speech to the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable
America. The meeting focused on ways Americans can sustain their quality of
life through responsible development, mass transportation initiatives and
environmental awareness.
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