http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...w_040920171827

WASHINGTON (AFP) - BMW paid more than 42 million dollars in fines during the year that ended September 2003, for violating US corporate fuel efficiency rules, officials said.

The luxury German automaker incurred a fine of 14 million dollars for its 2002 model-year vehicles and another of 28 million dollars for 2001 model year vehicles.

It opted to pay the total in one fiscal year, which ended September 30, 2003, according to a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (news - web sites).

Under Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) rules, automakers are required to keep the average fuel efficiency of their passenger car fleets to 11.7 kilometers per liter (27.5 miles per gallon), weighted by sales.

The corresponding truck target is 8.8 kilometers per liter (20.7 mpg), rising to 8.9 kilometers per liter (21 mpg) for 2005 model-year trucks and sport-utility vehicles.

But certain automakers routinely pay fines for exceeding those caps, although US and Asian companies have stayed within the government's limits.

BMW is among a handful of companies that have decided that paying the fines is part of the cost of doing business in the United States -- the world's largest automotive market, according to the trade magazine Automotive News.

BMW builds "the cars our customers want to buy," spokesman Gordon Keil is quoted as saying in Monday's issue of the magazine.

Fast cars with superb handling and luxury features weigh more and use more fuel, Keil said. "If there are penalties, so be it."

The agency's annual fuel efficiency report is due out before the year's end. It will provide details on industry-wide compliance with the rules for the 2002 model year -- the latest year for which figures are available.

 

Article of course doesnt say that BMW didnt pay a damn dime...Their customers did.

CAFE is a lousy way to regulate fuel mileage.

 

What's a better way?

 

Education and awareness!!

 

Whilst I dont want it to happen AT ALL, the best way to regulate fuel mileage would be with gasoline taxes...Forcing people to buy something they dont want via artificial mileage tables isnt the way to go.

Do you honestly think the SUV boom would be as big as it has been if OEMs had been able to continue building large, full size cars?

 

Taxes above and beyond what we have now? a la Europe? I have to be honest- I might go for that. Nobody listens to anything more than their own wallet.
Regarding the SUV boom- do you honestly think it would be as big as it is, if they hadn't left the giant 7 mpg CAFE loophole for light trucks that are used STRICTLY as personal transportation, and negligible actual "duty" use? The fact that GTO Automatic gets a gas guzzler tax, and Ford Expedition doesn't, isn't right, IMO.

 

Same thing, expressed differently. The most important being that, if the American people REALLY want their government to regulate fuel mileage, then doing it via the wallet is the only real way for it to work.

However, I honestly dont think something like that would fly with the American people...The environmental special interest groups got what we have passed instead.

 

Who, the manufactorors??? They all ready know about fuel economy, but don't care. They will build what the public wants within reason and while still making that product profitable.

Who wouldn't want a 500HP Tahoe that gets 100mpg

 

CAFE is stupid. That is a fact. It forces the manufacturers to build cars that customers do not not necessarily want. It messes with the supply side and leaves the demand side alone. If the customers have an incentive to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, they will start demanding them, and the automakers, who wish to make money, will begin to supply them accordingly. Simple as that. CAFE permits some fuel regulation while allowing the politicians to let the customers (voters) not see the impact. So the politicians don't look like the bad guys.

 

Everyone..

but thats the problem.. nobody cares... and unfortunantly, I don't want this to happen etiher (cause I'm greedy), hitting the wallets is probably the only way to get people to notice

Gas tax is just bad though.. It directly affects cost of living.. Everybody has to travel.. and all the goods need to travel to their destination ,which uses gas.. I don't think it would help the economy either, since thats less money people would use to buy other junk.

 

Expand the "Gas Guzzler" tax to include more vehicles, especially throughout the truck lines.

 

The sad thing is that every American seems to think that cheap gas is some kind of birthright. Even though we have the cheapest gas of any major industrialized nation and have the highest oil consumption rate, people wouldn't stand for an increase. They'd have to give up their Hummers and Suburbans.

So, if and when the cost of energy increases significantly, we stand to be impacted more than most of those other countries. Think about it... if it doubled or tripled in price for some reason, who do you think would get the worst end of the deal? Countries like those in Europe or in Japan with efficient cars and vast rail networks or the good 'ol usa where everyone drives 30 miles to work in a full size SUV and everything has (and continues) to developed as sprawl, with no town centers?

 

CAFE isn't about the customers demand Its about the safety of our air and planet for that matter. It amazes me how many people are still stuck in the 60s that think 4 MPG muscle cars and even worse trucks would be a GOOD thing. CAFE is the smartest thing our gov't could have introduced and it has been doing its job well. And if the Auto Industry hadn't actually pulled a pretty creative and sneaky and queit honestly, dirty sceme in the 90's with Project Supercar, CAFE would be ALOT higher than it is now... Too bad BUT, good news is that the CAFE is becoming more strict every year...go CAFE

Until the SUV craze, we had seen a DRAMATIC impact actually.

 

Who here wants to see the return of sub 10mpg economy levels?

...

Im merely saying that CAFE is like feeding your dog by stuffing the cans of dog food up his...well... You get the idea.

Does it work? Eh... Yes. Is it the most efficient or desirable method to get the fuel mileage numbers the tree-huggers want? Hell no. Traditional free-market product development via customer demand is the most efficient, loophole-free method to do that.

If the customer wants something, then the customer gets it, whether that be a 30mpg 2 ton non-hybrid sedan or an 11mpg 3 ton Excursion. Both are completely feasible given todays technology, but only one gets built. Why do you think that is? Because CAFE makes it easier to build the horredously large truck instead of the slightly smaller, but more efficient sedan, since the car would take slightly more development dollars.

However, those tree huggers should bear in mind that no matter how noble their intentions of saving the world, the voting public are who dictate policy, and if their buying power is any indicator, the majority dont give a rats *** about the environment. CAFE passed because it sounds good on paper. Not because it works well.

 

Average gas mileage now is WORSE than in the 1980's. Any arguement that CAFE works is flawed. It does NOT work. It IS about customers demand. If gas is cheap, WE DON'T CARE ABOUT FUEL ECONOMY. We buy less efficient vehicles AND DRIVE MORE. We do not DEMAND fuel efficient automobiles - no matter who is forced to make them. The market WILL find loopholes to meet DEMAND - How do you think we got into this SUV craze? If there's a business case, manufacturers will just pay the fines and make what the market demands anyway (like BMW).

If you still don't think CAFE works, go dig up the average fuel economy for Europe, then compare it to the US. Cheap gas and CAFE vs. Expensive Gas. It's quickly apparent which one actually is working.

Also, adjusted for inflation gas was more expensive in the early 80's than it is now, so this is another reason for the SUV boom and an example of where we care less (or not at all) if it is sufficiently cheap.

Whether someone thinks we SHOULD make gas more expensive or not is clearly a very political decision, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, anyone insisting that CAFE actually works doesn't understand the whole picture.