The Auto Writer

Automotive manufacturers are often treated as the public whipping boy when it comes to environmental issues. True, car makers play a significant role in environmental impact when it comes to the vehicles they build and sell, but consumer demand plays an even greater role in what the car companies will develop in the first place. One only needs to look at the current sudden shift from big trucks and SUVs to compact cars to see how the winds of change can shift quickly.

The NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) is a federal entity under the Department of Transportation umbrella. The NHTSA is tasked with writing and enforcing safety, theft-resistance, and fuel economy standards for motor vehicles, the latter under its CAFE or Corporate Average Fuel Economy system.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) is a business trade association of ten car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. This association speaks as one voice to address issues pertaining to the automotive industry.

Ever since the NHTSA stated that fuel economy standards should be raised to a corporate average of 31.6 mpg by 2015 in a bid to reduce carbon emissions, the AAM has been working on a response. Last week, The Detroit News reported that the NHTSA assessment was, “…at different points “illogical,” “wholly inconsistent” and that the agency “misunderstands” other arguments, while vastly overstating the benefits improving fuel economy. Automakers argued the agency “improperly exaggerates the environmental benefits that its discretionary choices appear to achieve.”

In other words the AAM is disagreeing with the NHTSA’s assessment, criticizing them for putting the environmental burden squarely on the back of the auto industry alone. For its part the NHTSA claims that hiking fuel efficiency standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The AAM contends that this conclusion is incorrect as consumers will simply keep their cars longer as automakers will be forced to pass on the costs of building more fuel efficient cars to automotive buyers. The AAM also criticized the NHTSA’s analysis of climate change, contending that the conclusions the federal government is making about this problem are not factually based.

The NHTSA’s proposals are currently in the comment phase, where the administration is taking public feedback including what the auto industry has to say before issue their final ruling. That ruling isn’t expected to take place before the Fall.