The lobby group for many major automakers in the United States has urged newly-elected president Donald Trump to roll back stringent mileage rules implemented by the Obama administration.
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers which represents the likes of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi and Toyota, claims that the strict compliance requirements for 2017-2025 models “pose a substantial challenge to the auto sector”.
The Auto Alliance extended on this by saying “The combination of low gas prices and the existing fuel-efficiency gains from the early years of the program is undercutting consumer willingness to buy the vehicles with more expensive alternative powertrains that are necessary for the sector to comply with the more stringent standards in out-years.”
From the 2017 model year, local manufacturers are required to improve their fleet-wide average from 34 mph of 2016 up to 35 mpg in 2017 and by 2021, to sit at 41 mpg. A review of the years 2021-2025 will take place in April 2018 but at this stage, automakers could be required to reach a 50 mpg average by 2025.
The Detroit News reports that automakers have been lobbying for changes to the rules over the past year but with Trump to take over from Obama in early January, it is thought that the Republican and climate change skeptic will be more willing to alter the laws than his predecessor.
“One can expect that the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress will take a new look at regulations that affect the auto industry and industry in general,” Jack Nerad, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book, told the news site. “One obvious candidate are the current CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations. In light of lower fuel prices and increased supplies of domestically produced fuel, we are likely to see a relaxation of the CAFE regulations.”
Opening photo via Donald Trump’s Facebook page
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