Automakers hail review of fuel economy rules
Executives say move by Trump reflects new reality
For automakers, President’s Trump’s announcement that his administration is going to take a hard new look at tougher fuel-economy standards was what they were wanting to hear.
Auto executives who met with Trump briefly in private before the president spoke publicly at a former bomber factory outside Detroit said they are only looking for more reasonable regulations that recognize today’s market realities.
That new reality? Gas prices have been lower than forecast for years, and demand for electric and hybrid vehicles has not materialized as expected.
“I think whatever the outcome is, I will feel better about it,” Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said after Trump spoke.
Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, said the industry doesn’t intend to back away from a long-term commitment to make cars that can drive farther on less fuel and to continue work to reduce emissions.
“I don’t think the industry is going to say we want to eliminate sensible regulations or do something unrealistic,” he said. “What the industry is saying is let’s take a look at what those assumptions were in the beginning and where are we today.”
Trump announced Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are reinstating a “midterm evaluation” of 2022 to 2025 gas mileage averages for the auto industry.
The review had been canceled in the waning days of the Obama administration. It would have taken a new look at the assumptions behind the 2011 agreement with major automakers that would nearly double fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 miles per gallon. The Obama administration said the move would save motorists $1.7 trillion in fuel costs over the life of the vehicles but cost the auto industry about $200 billion to comply with over 13 years.
Back then, though, gas prices had yet to fall and consumers were not craving fuelthirsty SUVs and pickups as much as they do today.
The re-evaluation is necessary “because the standards were set far into the future,” Trump said. “If the standards threaten auto jobs, then common sense changes could have — and should have — been made.”
The move prompted criticism from environmental groups.
Anna Stefanopoulou, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the University of Michigan Automotive Research Center, said she worries the Trump administration is being steered wrong “by a segment of the industry that is after quick returns.”
Auto Alliance, the industry’s top lobbying group, applauded the decision to resume a “datadriven” review process.
“By restarting this review, analysis rather than politics will produce a final decision consistent with the process we all agreed to under ‘ One National Program’ for (greenhouse gases) and fuel economy standards,” Auto Alliance President and CEO Mitch Bainwol said in a statement.