NADA Speaks Out About CARB Standards

One of the ways automakers will meet stringent CAFE regulations is to produce hybrid and pure electric cars. The BMW Group is working on one such car for its MINI.

The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has weighed in on the recent Obama administration CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) changes, noting that California’s standards will now be lower than the federal governments.

CAFE Will Be Higher Than CARB

Beginning in model year 2011, the feds are requiring automobile manufacturers to have a fleet average of 27.3 mpg for the light duty fleet, which includes passenger cars and light trucks. That number is actually higher than California’s 26.7.

Quoting NADA Chairman John McEleney, “By setting a fuel economy standard higher than what California regulators have proposed, the Obama administration today removed the last argument for state-by-state regulation of fuel economy. The structure of California’s program — with its exemptions for major automakers, its ‘patchwork’ design and its loopholes — is unworkable as a national policy.”

California Hurts The Auto Industry

McEleney added, “Only a single, national fuel economy standard gives the auto industry the regulatory certainty necessary to produce and market the fuel efficient cars of tomorrow. In contrast, California’s patchwork fuel economy program would exacerbate the auto sector’s severe economic turmoil.

“Now that the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) law, passed by Congress in Dec. 2007, is at last being implemented, America’s auto dealers call on all stakeholders, including the Obama administration and California regulators, to embrace a single, national fuel economy standard.”

CAFE, CARB and California

CAFE has long been a point of consternation for the automobile industry as manufacturers attempt to balance customer demand for larger vehicles with the need to comply to federal regulations. With California and some other states setting their own regulations, the cost of building cars goes up with very little real gain achieved.

With the current economic climate being as challenging as it is, one would hope that the Obama administration would delay these changes until the industry recovers. Sales in 2008 collapsed and for the first three months of 2009 look to be equally dismal.

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