Consumers have pushed Republicans to the back of the car lot. The GOP has spent millions on advertising, but this time around their model just won’t sell. There is a Democratic majority in the House and Senate.
Later this month President Bush will meet with General Motors, Ford and Daimler-Chrysler. You can bet corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for cars will be a hot topic.
Raising the CAFE standard, in the eyes of Detroit, currently set at 27.5 mpg, costs a lot of money and they usually argue that consumer demand drives their products and it hurts the consumer.
Americans want their big SUVs and pickup trucks - or maybe not.
With market demand down for gas guzzlers and the demand for fuel-efficient cars (hybrids) up, that argument doesn’t hold.
I don’t fault Detroit for wanting to maintain a larger profit margin by keeping research and development to a minimum, but if people aren’t buying Detroit now because they want more fuel-efficient cars, they probably won’t buy them if they are given a break with the CAFE standard.
Raising the CAFÉ standard would make Detroit more competitive and force technology (expense) upon Detroit to deal with the law and possibly help them to compete in the world car market.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this meeting. If anyone hears rumblings about it, please comment.
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzauto074964692nov07,0,1452030.story?coll=ny-business-print
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