35mpg by 2020

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid:

As representatives of the American auto industry, we have designed, built, and sold automobiles in this country for decades. The livelihood of our families and our communities depends on the economic strength of our industry. Today, that strength is severely compromised by the lack of fuel-efficient cars and trucks customers want to buy. To survive this critical moment, we know the industry must embrace change, innovation, and new technology. Increasing fuel economy standards will not only benefit the country as a whole, it will also move the industry forward, creating new jobs and boosting profitability. As you finalize comprehensive energy legislation, we urge you to raise fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2020.

Having worked in the auto industry for decades, we know the technology exists to achieve a 35-mpg standard and more. Indeed, nearly five years ago, the National Academy of Sciences reported that automakers had sufficient technology then to meet a 37 mile-per-gallon standard without changing their fleet makeup or vehicle size or power. Since then, fuel-saving technology has only become more advanced. But in the absence of strong standards, automakers have not applied this technology across the fleet.

Passage of a 35 mpg standard would help reverse the automakers' current downward trends that have led to job loss and shrinking market share. According to University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) research, raising fuel economy fleet wide to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 would boost domestic automakers' profits by $12 billion through 2018 and save up to 35,000 jobs. In the last two years alone, Detroit automakers have lost $26 billion in profits. While Congress deliberates, domestic automakers have cut or proposed eliminating 132,000 jobs at 64 plants in the U.S. In addition to these manufacturing jobs, slow sales and high inventory have resulted in lay-offs at dealerships around the country.

America should be the world leader in automotive design and fuel economy. Instead of lagging behind Japan and Europe, we should be exporting our vehicles and better technology to the rest of the world. Understanding the auto industry first-hand, we know that it will take mandatory standards to get the industry moving in the right direction. And we know that our industry engineers have the expertise and talent to achieve a 35 mpg standard, just as they did when Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) were first passed in 1975. Then, despite intensive lobbying efforts, when Congress told the industry to double their fleets' fuel economy in ten years, the automakers rose to the challenge, beat the deadline and thrived.

Then and now, there is a national imperative for raising the fuel economy of our cars and trucks. A fleet wide average of 35 mpg would save 1.2 million barrels of oil per day – nearly half of what the U.S. currently imports from the entire Persian Gulf. Reducing America's oil dependence saves consumers money at the gas pump, strengthens our national security, and protects the environment. These are goals we all share and can be accomplished without harming the auto industry.

For twenty years, fuel economy has been allowed to stagnate, increasing America's oil dependence and undermining the economic vitality of the domestic auto industry. It is time to reverse that trend by increasing CAFE standards to 35 mpg by 2020 as part of the energy legislation being considered in Congress.

Sincerely,


State Senator Chris Marr
6th Legislative District
Spokane, WA

Chuck Frank
President
‘Z' Frank Chevrolet and Kia

Adam Lee
President
Lee Auto Malls

Karen A. Bowen
Former Ford Manager

Gary Muenzhuber on behalf of
Auto Workers of Minnesota, Inc.

cc: Members, U.S. Senate
Members, U.S. House of Representatives

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