The Advertiser
By: Stuart Martin, Motoring Editor
Lumbering leviathans with "Made in the U.S.A.'' stamped on compliance plates have been put on death row by President Barack Obama as he tightens up emissions and fuel-consumption standards.
The now owner of a large chunk of the country's once-dominant GM, the American President is bringing the U.S. automotive industry into the 21st century.
Only California - one of the driving forces behind Mr Obama's plan - can lay claim to being a state where any effort has been made to put automotive environmental issues at the forefront of the public consciousness.
U.S. car makers must reduce the average thirst (and consequently, emissions) of cars and light trucks to 35.5 miles per gallon - 6.6 litres per 100km - by 2016, down from 24.8 miles per gallon or 9.5l/100km.
The White House says the changes could save 1.8 billion barrels of oil and prevent 900 million metric tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions.
Alternative fuel vehicles have not been ignored by GM, Ford and Chrysler but the changes to U.S. laws will still have a dramatic impact on the domestic manufacturers - but is expected to have little impact here.
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said the Australian industry had its own voluntary targets, revised in 2005 and based on gram per kilometre carbon emissions.
"We have a target of achieving an average of 222g/km by 2010 - the industry is on track to achieve or exceed that target,'' he said. ``We're close to that figure now.''
Mr McKellar believes the policy framework going into place in Australia - the carbon trading scheme (likely in 2011) and the Green Car Innovation Fund - was already ahead of that being put in place by Mr Obama.
"We're part of that system so it's completely unnecessary to add a second layer of legislation,'' he said.
The U.S. faced a challenge to meet the objective, but it needed a different approach as there was no carbon-trading scheme and, apart from California's tougher restrictions, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations had been criticised.
"If you look at what the Australian Government is doing, it's well ahead of what is being contemplated in the U.S.,'' Mr McKellar said.
"We have a developing plan for a trading scheme, the industry also has specific incentives through the Green Car Innovation Fund which are designed to encourage the local manufacturers to focus on innovation and the uptake of more fuel-efficient and lower-emission technologies in future vehicle production in Australia.
"We're already making substantial progress.''
The U.S. market's addiction to the "Yank Tank'' was anything but a stereotype, but oil price spikes rammed home - at least to buyers - that driving massive cars was a thing of the past.
The realisation has dawned on the car makers - resulting in factories across the U.S. being shut, with those lucky few being re-fitted to build small cars - but the political force to make it happen didn't arrive until Mr Obama took the oath of office.
RAA technical services manager Mark Borlace said the Australian industry was already close to the new U.S. 2016 targets under the voluntary code. "The biggest problem for the U.S. is mass - they'll have to make lighter cars as well as reducing fuel consumption.''
In Australia, car makers were more aligned with European standards. "For more than a decade we've followed the Europeans on emissions standards, which covers emissions and fuel consumption,'' he said. The impact on the Australian industry - in a manufacturing sense and from a retail perspective - would not be great but the U.S. industry was being given a chance to become globally competitive again.
"There's not likely to be a big spin-off for Australia because there are not many U.S. models that come here - Chrysler, Jeep, Hummer - so our gains will be more in line with Europe,'' Mr Borlace said.
The industry in the U.S. has little choice but to fall into line with Mr Obama's policies - having taken billions of dollars to stay afloat - and the new regulations will give car makers a consistent set of rules nationally. Ford Motor Company chief executive Alan Mullaly said he was pleased with the regulations. They would help drive sustainable vehicle developments.
His GM counterpart, Fritz Henderson, said he believed the new rules would benefit consumers and the industry.
"Energy security and climate change are national priorities that require federal leadership and the President's direction makes sense for the country and the industry,'' he said.