Scooter

sorry for the long post, but it's worth reading IMO...

Dearborn, Michigan, Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. might change fuel-economy standards starting in 2008 to encourage the development of more large sedans rather than less-safe models such as sport-utility vehicles, the head of a federal agency said.

The U.S. rules now discourage larger cars in favor of smaller cars that offer less protection in a crash or light trucks that use more fuel and are more prone to roll over, said Jeffrey Runge, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. He wouldn't detail what changes he might propose in the standards, known as "corporate average fuel economy,'' or CAFE.

"Large passenger cars and minivans are the safest way to move around large numbers of people,'' Runge said in a speech at the Automotive News World Congress in Dearborn, Michigan. "And yet we have `CAFEed' large cars out of existence.''

Current U.S. rules require that an automaker average 27.5 miles per gallon of gasoline for cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks such as pickups, sport-utilities and minivans. Companies pay penalties if they don't meet the standards. Automakers either sell more fuel-efficient models to offset the lower fuel economy of larger cars and trucks or develop fewer of the bigger vehicles.

Automakers have had little incentive to develop large sedans because sport-utility vehicles are more profitable than cars, analysts have said. The current U.S. fuel-economy rules expire in 2007 for 2008-model vehicles.


Sales Down for Largest Cars

U.S. sales of the largest cars fell to 3 percent of the total market last year from 9.4 percent in 1983, according to Ward's AutoInfoBank. Large sport-utilities rose to 5.2 percent from 1.5 percent in the same period.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler and General Motors Corp. both recently showed large sedan models aimed at attracting new buyers.

NHTSA will seek comments in the next several months from the auto industry on how it should modify the rules after the current guidelines expire, Runge said. A study is due soon that will weigh the tradeoffs between weight and safety, he said.

The agency also hopes to have a final proposal soon for a road test to use in determining rollover risk for cars and trucks, Runge said. NHTSA for two years has used a formula based on a vehicle's center of gravity rather than road tests.

Automakers criticized the agency's current ratings, saying they don't reflect real driving conditions. Cars, which usually are lower to the ground than trucks, tend to get better ratings.


Testing Plans

Proposals include testing all models to be sold in the U.S. starting in the 2003 model year, NHTSA has said. The agency plans to do two tests of rollover likelihood, called the "J-turn'' and "fishhook'' maneuvers, at speeds of as fast as 60 miles an hour.

Under the formula now used, vehicles are rated from one to five stars, with a higher score meaning a car or truck is less likely to roll over. In a June assessment of 32 vehicles, no light truck did better than three stars.

NHTSA engineers using the driving test finished assessing 26 models, including cars, pickups, minivans and sport-utilities, at the end of November and compared the results to how the vehicles ranked using the current formula, Runge said. Most of the cars and trucks performed as the mathematical model suggested they would, indicating that the method is a good guideline, he said.

hemants

This is excellent news and not happening soon enough. The loophole that created the SUV menace will finally be closed.

Hopefully, going forward, only those who truly need the offroad and/or towing capabilities of SUV's will be driving them.