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Obama's Fuel Emission Plan Sparks Controversy

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May 19, 2009 5:30 pm US/Mountain

Obama's Fuel Emission Plan Sparks Controversy

Written by Paul Day
Reporting
Paul Day
DENVER (CBS4) ― Tuesday's proposal by the Obama Administration to raise vehicle fuel efficiency standards by 30 percent in 7 years is sparking controversy even among the best positioned American car dealers.

"Anytime you have the government telling consumers what to buy, it makes it tough to sell," said Beau Smith, General Manager at Sill-TerHar Ford in Broomfield.

Ford is the only American automaker that didn't need or take a government bail-out.
But a car shopper on Sill-TerHar's lot at 150 Alter Street is underwhelmed as he reads the EPA mileage stickers for F-150 trucks, Ford's best-selling vehicle. It's in the high teens.

"I'm kind of curious why we're not doing better than that," Parrish Major said.

On Tuesday, the Obama Administration called for new, stricter fuel efficiency ratings for all vehicles by the year 2016. Cars would have to average 39 miles per gallon, light trucks 30 miles per gallon with a corporate fleet average of 35.5 miles per gallon under the proposal.

At Sill-TerHar, a Ford-built gas-only car that even comes close to what the President is calling for can't be found. The manual transmission, subcompact 2009 Focus averages only 28 miles per gallon.

Ford has just rolled out its Ford Fusion Hybrid for 2010. It's a roomy and comfortable midsize car that does meet the President's new standard by averaging 39 miles per gallon. But there's a catch. The hybrid technology adds about $4,000 to the price of a regular model Fusion and that pushes the sticker price well past $31,000.

"It's tough because not all customers want hybrid technology," conceded Smith.

Smith says Ford is rethinking what it will be selling in the future.

"Europe's got what we want," Smith said.

Coming in June of 2010 to all Ford dealers will be the redesigned Ford Fiesta. It's smaller and more fuel efficient. But Smith wonders how well it will really sell because he believes American car buyers are used to a lot of space and horsepower in their vehicles.

The car shopper, Parrish Majors, believes American carmakers have been dragging their feet and now must play catch-up.

"Europe's already got a plug-in hybrid, we don't," he said. "They're ahead of the game, we're not."

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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