U.S. tweaks fuel standards for light trucks -
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 10:51:35 PM
afxpress.com
LOS ANGELES (AFX) -- The Transportation Department proposed Tuesday slapping tighter fuel-economy standards on some light trucks sold in the U.S., a move aimed at trimming oil demand and easing gasoline prices at the pump
Auto manufacturers would have until 2011 to meet the new standards, giving them plenty of time to tweak engines on select pickups and sport-utility vehicles
"This is a plan that will save gas and result in less pain at the pump for motorists without sacrificing safety," Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta told reporters at a busy intersection near the Los Angeles airport after traveling across the country from Atlanta, where he'd made a similar announcement
"The time is now for the U.S. fuel-economy standards to embrace the new faces of the American fleet," Mineta said, noting that more than half the automobiles sold are in the light-truck category
But the new rules don't set standards for some of the most gas-guzzling SUVs -- including the popular Hummer H2, Ford Excursion and certain Chevy Suburban models -- which are currently exempt from the fuel-economy rules, according to the Sierra Club
According to the Sierra Club, an environmental group following the issue, the new policy represents an overhaul of one of the most successful oil-savings policies in U.S. history -- the corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards that forced U.S. auto manufacturers to make their cars more fuel-efficient following the 1970s oil embargo
The new policy would divide automakers' light-truck fleets by size into half a dozen classes. Each class would be assigned a different average-fuel-economy standard
Between 2008 and 2010, manufacturers would be allowed to choose whether to follow the old or new system. The change is expected to result in a 1.8-mile-per-gallon increase in the economy standards for light trucks in 2011, according to the Sierra Club. The smallest truck category, which would include Subaru's Outback and Toyota's Rav4, would face an average standard of 28.4 miles per gallon by 2011. The largest trucks, like the Dodge Ram, would have to average 21.3 miles per gallon
The size of each light-truck-category vehicle would be determined by its axle length and width
"It's not bumper-to-bumper; it's wheel-to-wheel," said Brendan Bell, an analyst with the Sierra Club's energy program
Political response Passenger vehicles currently sold in the U.S. must meet an average-fuel-economy standard of 27.5 miles a gallon or face monetary penalties. For light trucks, automobile makers must meet an average-fuel-economy standard of 22.2 miles per gallon for model year 2007, a standard the administration set in 2002. Previously, light trucks averaged 21 miles per gallon
The administration's latest proposal comes at a time when America has become more "truck-centric" in its purchase of new vehicles, said Lindsay Brooke, a senior analyst with CSM Worldwide, a Michigan firm that prepares forecasts for the auto industry. At the same time, critics charge that the outdated fuel-economy standards fail to reflect this change in buying preference
The Transportation Department estimates that retooling the fuel-economy rules, if all manufacturers comply, will save 10 billion gallons of gasoline over four years at a cost of $6.2 billion
The U.S. imports roughly 58% of the 21 million barrels of oil it burns each day, most of which ends up in vehicle gas tanks. U.S. policy makers opposed to an increase in fuel-economy standards have argued that the current fleetwide average used to calculate the standards penalizes domestic manufacturers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. for having fleets with substantially heavier vehicles and benefits foreign rivals that predominantly sell lighter, more fuel-efficient compact cars
Industry impact "I will examine the details of this proposal to make sure it advances our goals of conserving fuel while preserving U.S. jobs and maintaining the safety of our cars and trucks," said Rep. John Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, the home of the U.S. auto industry. Dingell has consistently opposed legislation to increase fuel-economy standards
"We must be careful to avoid any unintended consequences that may be hidden in the administration's proposal," Dingell added
The Transportation Department crafted the proposal with industry input, and a goal of the administration's effort was to increase standards while "preventing adverse economic impacts" to the industry
"This is all not going to have a catastrophic effect on the auto industry," said Brooke. The Sierra Club's Bell said the administration's proposal might lead to a "marginal improvement" and not an "overall fleetwide erosion" in fuel economy for light trucks if everyone plays by the rules
He added that the policy, though, could go further to squeeze the greatest efficiency from the automotive sector and reduce the country's growing reliance on imported oil
Industry will have 90 days to offer comments on the administration's proposal. The final rule is expected to be in place by April 2006, said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Whether fuel-economy gains under the new system are significant will largely rest with consumers and which vehicles they purchase, Territo added
"This proposal is just an idea at this point," said Ron DeFore of the SUV Owners of America, who is a former official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "We're very hopeful," DeFore said, "that by April this rule doesn't reduce the utility and safety of SUVs and minivans." He claimed that downsizing following earlier rounds of federal fuel-economy mandates had only made vehicles more dangerous and less useful and did little to reduce oil imports
Bell worries, he said, that the new policy might actually give manufacturers an incentive to add weight to some models that are at the top end of one range in order to bump them into a lower fuel-economy category under the new proposal
"For vehicles right on the bubble, they can bump them over," said Bell
But Brooke noted that automobile manufacturers already have large-volume production plans to introduce an array of new technologies in upcoming models to help them meet the modest increase, such as six-speed automatic transmission systems and direct fuel injection |
