Industry Scrambles As Obama Unveils 35.5 MPG Economy Standard

Is this the same "econmomy" standard that uses wheel base as part of the formula for calculating target fuel economy, in which a Corvette is classified as a "large" car, and therefore allowed to guzzle dino juice, while a Porsche Carerra is considered a "small" car, and is therefore an inefficient offender? If so, then I think it is a Bad Idea(TM) designed to favor US auto-makers and their existing inefficiencies.

The corvette isn't classified as a Gas guzzler and actually gets decent fuel milage. And the Porsche Carrera gets 18 City / 26 Highway. Which is also decent and far from qualifying as a gas guzzler. I see your point. Its just that the examples you used could be better.

Corvette Wheel Base = 105.7"
Enzo Wheel Base = 104"
Aston DBS = 107.9"
Lexus LFA = 102.6"
Nissan GTR = 109.4"
Dodge Viper = 98.8"
Porsche 911 = 92.5"
Murcielago = 104.9"
Gallardo = 100.8"


I'm sorry but I fail to see any "pro-american pattern"

well seeing as the Corvette with a 7.0 liter 500hp 500lb torque gets better gas mileage than alot of smaller lower powered engines as does the base corvette im not really sure the corvette was the best example for you to use for american inefficiency I'm certainly more a euro car fan but please show me since you used that example another car that gets those power figures and has such large engines with better EPA ratings than the vette from any car????

re "...I'm sorry but I fail to see any "pro-american pattern"..."

With few exceptions, US auto-makers make larger cars than many of our European and Asian competitors. Based on the "big car is allowed to suck more has" credo, rather than "do what you have to do to get 35 MPG" allows US auto-makers to excuse themselves from direct competition, while penalizing smaller foreign sports cars because they don't get "small car" fuel economy. Big sports car, good. Small sports car, bad. And so it goes.

you describe it as if small cars get worse fuel economy than larger cars. They don't! If a car company can successfully market small cars in the North American market, then they can easily reach these standards. What this omission does is allow for less fuel efficient cars to be made because like stated elsewhere, a vast majority of the populace recognizes that bigger cars are safer, and safer cars matter much more to them then cars that will save them a couple bucks to fill up.

Can I possibly be about to agree with Joe?..... Yep Hell has frozen over.

automakers should be well aware of the trends and laws towards better efficiency, no news here other than a new target mpg#

OK, Ford could bring it's european engines and would reach even 40mpg, but what about Government Motors?

do realize Ford's european engines are based on the european cycle. And such their official epa numbers will be several mpg lower, especially for the higher mileage cars.

General Motors (just call it that Government Motors makes you sound like a troll) has shared its engines between the US and Europe for some time. The difference is that larger displacement engines are more commonly used in the US due to buyer preference.

Yeah but Honda's are boring appliances. Show me a single "fun" car on that list. If this is the future of U.S automobiles, I'm never going to sell my current car.

You can get the Honda-Rear-Drive Conversion kit at Pep Boys for $39.95.

I wish Obama and the Democratic Party would get into a Toyota Camry and ............

Run over the Republicans

LOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good reponse LexSucks. Couldnt agree more!!!!

Yea Like the far left wacko bafoon Democrats are doing so great.

There is no far left in this country. Dems are about as centrist as it gets. The health care bill they passed is pretty much the same bill republicans offered in 1994 and back in the Nixon days.

The right has moved to the extremes so far that these days if you're not a right wing lunatic you must be a leftist socialist. Hilarious.

LOL! Good one.

Make up your mind, 009. Does the "Industry Scramble" or do "the automakers embrace the standards?"

Assumption is that the price of gas will be >$3.50 per gallon.

If gas stays cheap, then it will be IMPOSSIBLE to get enough people to buy smaller, more efficient cars so the automakers can reach that requirement regardless of how many small cars they offer.

Batteries are not hybrid, the drivetrain is (electric and ICE). Even as we move into Plug-in Hybrids - simply Hybrids with a larger battery- the range is not close to what you can get in an ICE powered car. This EV type vehicles are only practical for dedicated roles within a family 'fleet'. I currently have a "dedicated" work car, but I sometimes even use that for our long family trips rather than drive the SUV. So, even though I want an EV vehicle (I'm waiting for them to be waaay more fun to drive than an ugly and boring Prius) I would have to limit its use to going to work and back with no flexibility. The best options right now are VWs and Audi's diesels which give you the best of both worlds -mileage and range- plus they are fun to drive. No contest.

I think many people fail to realize how efficient engines today are. they offer better efficiency and less pollution while producing more horsepower and smarter technology. I guess after my next new car I'll be searching for pre-owned vehicles. And I'm sure that Obamarxist will tax me for driving a car that is more than 3 years old right after he rips my house apart to make it greener to appease the degenerates who keep crying about global warming myths.

You're assuming these people know how to read. To be a skeptic means you either flat out not believe or you hesitate to believe. If you are confronted with PROVEN facts and you chose not to believe, you are then in DENIAL. If you are faced with facts and hesitate and remain hesitant you either don't give a cr@p or are too lazy to educate yourself and read the facts... in other words, you are ignorant of the facts, or simply IGNORANT.

"global warming" may have a big dark cloud over it, but its mostly due to corporate polluters' lobbyists. The underlying problem is why we are polluting: due to overpopulation, wasteful consumption, corporate irresponsibility to the environment.
Other Sources of information:
IEA
USGS
US Department of Energy
EPA
Scientific American
www.fueleconomy.gov
www.climate.gov
The Christian Science Monitor
The Global Forest Coalition
Rocky Mountain Institute
Oceana
The Conservation Fund
Global Forest Watch
The National Research Council
Convention on Biological Diverstiy
Nature
Journal of Science
Boston Consulting Group
McKinsey & Co.
Grist
WorldWatch
Electric Power Reasearch Institute
World Resources Institute
Overpopulation.org
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration

A compilation of different views and opinions, from industry, government, and private practice (I could have added countless technical papers, dissertations, and theses from the top Universities too). Guess what they all agree on?

... and guess who disagrees? bozos like you who sit and watch TV all day, who believe that having a valid argument does not require being informed with facts, and can only comment because of what they hear from David Letterman, Bart Simpson, or some other illiterate source.

Smaller cars dont necessarily mean less mpg. Its an american way to think that smaller means less. Zippy city cars that are primarily urban drivers (gearing tuned to pickup) dont necessarily offer that good mpg in the rural areas or highways.

And america is a country of wide straight roads and lots of sprawl. So yeah, you could cry in your coffee about "handling"and "road feel" but the Camry v6 probably underlines what american like. A big fast motor that doesnt drink to much gas, a comfy car that doesnt "bitch" so i can blast down the I-90 for 400 miles while sipping my latte and hearing the baseball game ( Red Sox kicks Yankees in the nuts !!!!).
For a lot of folks, a car in america is not an luxury its an necessity. Most people don't have an option to take a train or bus (unless you want o arrive a day later). Driving the 1-90,88 in winter is not fun either.

So sure i listen to the car mags with a pinch of salt. fast handling sounds nice, ferrari 430 scuderia, amazing, but the reality of it is that if i had to find another car to replace mine it would pretty much be similar (though i hear the Rav 4x4 v6 is pretty sweet).

Have a great day !

I like to compare forums like this to situations like ... take Donald Trump, Rosie Odonnell, Mario Andretti, and Bo Joe, put them in a room and ask them to agree on what the best car is.

This is what this forum does. It mixes people who are driving fanatics against others who are the ultimate in practicality. Throw in there a mix of frugality vs exhuberance, and you will have a group that will never agree on anything.

So what is the use you ask? not of ranking or claiming bragging rights for sure, but of sharing opinions. Because facts about how the Prius is so efficient does NOTHING to people like me who value enjoying my life and getting some emotion out of driving my car, the same way that a $150K Porsche may sound swell and all to a frugal person but will never be more than an anectode for him/her.

I find it amusing that you Americans think the Republicans would do anything different than the Democrats, Obamma increased the soldiers in the middle east and intensified the fighting, he is a much better sales man than Bush, If Bush did the same the Democrats would be freaking out,lol yes you would, The presidents take orders from the bankers and corporations, they are just salesmen and have little say on how the corporate America works, I think that there will be a heavy gas tax imposed to save us all, that is possibly why they are increasing the mileage to 35mpg? And of coarse it is better for the environment, if they were so concerned they would use the teck that some of there military hybrids use.

There is a difference between the parties. When the Democrats took over, the U.S. lost 7 million private sector jobs in one year. And instead of having an administration we now have a re-gime that keeps bitting the hand that feeds them. National Defence is highly compromised to say the least. When 61% of average Americans speek out against Government takeover, they are singled out as hate mongers and raceists. I could go on but I think you get the picture.

National defense highly compromised??? rofl in your fantasy maybe. 61% of average Americans support a public option in health care, but they didn't get it because the corporations own most of our government. There is no Conservative party in USA anymore, there is only corporatist (corporate sellout) GOP and centrist Dems.

DiamondR. I highly dissagree with both comments. Your facts are backwards.

I know job losses did not have to be this bad. Obama has attacked the private sector Like never before. The private sector creates REAL JOBS invests in the future and they don't see any future for them. They have retreated. I know, I'm one of them. For a fact, They cant even hold a convention in Las Vegas because the media will beat them up as the Bad Guys and this IS a loss of revenue for Vegas and there employees. The CEOs are afraid to take there contractural bonuses because they are touted as criminals. Don't missunderstand, I know there are corrupt CEOs that should be delt with but for the vast majority are good guys and gals. The government should be the referee but not decide the outcome, thats up to the shareholders. The bonuses they get however large have taxes emposed on them which is public notice. These taxes go to schools public services and the like. The Obama admin just took 2000 choices away from the public with the student loan progran. We will lose 1/6th of our econmy to the Government when private insurance companies go out of business when they can no longer keep a ballance sheet. Thats more jobs lost. Obama just added 16,000 IRS jobs to monitor the poblic [more tax dollars] and if we choose not to have our own healtcare or Government health care they will take it from our tax return. I do not like Government takeover especially when the administration has to shread our constitution to do it. This is the far left in your face. The bigger the Government - the smaller the man.

1995e34 This is a great discussion but the wrong forum. In a nutshell, Private Insurance will be mandated out of business. This is not Fox news its reality. The student loan deal is now in the governments hands and the Interest will go up 1.5% to help pay for Government health insurance [another tax created that has nothing to do with my daughters education]. 1/6 of our econmy does not translate to inefficent labor, it justifies the calliber of Health care. And there is No other nation that has superior healthcare, I can get those stats for you. This administration has proven the fact that the people do not own the government. If we did, they would not have forced this health bill against the will of the people. There is nothing in our constitution that says its up to the government to supply Healthcare. There were better avenues to fix current healthcare and the Gov should stay out. I have more but again this is not the correct forum.

Meh...just more empty minded right wingerism...If GOP was in charge we'd be living in the great depression right now. 20% unemployment. same thing that happened in 1929-1933 when GOP was in charge.

thetruth01 - you're spot on. 009 couldn't find anything negative about this regulation (see "...automakers embraced the standards ...and called on the government to begin work immediately on updates for the 2017 model year and beyond...") so he decides to play with the title ("Industry scrambles").

As for the people complaining about gov't infringement and worshipers of "the market will solve everything", I suggest you look at the comment from Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers section “...America needs a roadmap to reduced dependence on foreign oil and greenhouse gases, and only the federal government can play this role,” said ." in the article. It seems to suggest the private industry is feeling something different from you.

Perhaps this is due to the fact that American Car mfrs now realises the benefit of European and Japanese Gov't's setting high efficiency standards instead of relying on the market to do its things on its own terms has actually helped European and Japanese car mfrs deliver more capable cars and winning over the global car market as a result.

Good. About damn time. Great to finally see a real leader who is doing something other than lying us into wars.

Are you Obamma? lol Or is the photo a sarcastic statement on him winning the peace prize? He was reluctant to pick it up I hear? Now that he has increased the military overseas has there been any more protesting?