Japan happy with Obama

[Kratos]

Japanese makers praise Obama's push on green cars
Yuri Kageyama / Associated Press
Tokyo -- Japanese automakers on Wednesday praised President Barack Obama's new rules to push green vehicles and transform the U.S. auto industry -- a shift that likely puts Japan's manufacturers at an advantage.

Toyota Motor Corp., the maker of the Prius hybrid, which gets 48 miles per gallon in U.S. city driving, gave Obama "high praise" for promoting technology to boost mileage and fight global warming.

Obama announced rules Tuesday that would bring new cars and trucks sold in the United States by 2016 to an average of 35.5 miles per gallon (15 kilometers per liter), about 10 mpg (4.2 kpl) more than today's standards.

Passenger cars will be required to get 39 mpg (16.5 kpl), light trucks 30 mpg (12.7 kpl). That means cars and trucks on American roads will have to become smaller, lighter and more efficient.

Already, Japan's automakers have benefited from consumer demand for cars with good mileage and lower emissions.

Toyota, which boasts other fuel-efficient models in its lineup, vowed to continue to develop more green technology.

"In addition to the technology we have been developing from the past, Toyota will speed up in pursuing various ecological technologies, including hybrid technology, to deliver better mileage in vehicles," it said in a statement.

Honda Motor Co., Japan's second-biggest auto company, expressed similar sentiments.

"Honda supports President Obama's initiative to establish a single national standard addressing both greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy," it said in a statement from the U.S.

"Though it will be a challenging standard to meet, we will embrace it," Honda said, adding that it has long worked at fuel efficiency.

The Prius, whose remodeled version rolled out earlier this week, and Honda's Insight hybrid, which went on sale earlier this year, are among just six vehicles on sale today that offer fuel economy of at least 35.5 mpg, according to the auto Web site Edmunds.com.

The others are the Honda Civic hybrid, the Ford Fusion hybrid, the Mercury Milan hybrid and the Smart fortwo microcar.

But Obama's new rules are, in a sense, even more demanding. They require the U.S. auto industry to produce by 2016, vehicles that average 35.5 miles per gallon overall, with passenger cars reaching 39 mpg and light trucks hitting 30 mpg.

The system develops standards for each vehicle class size, and each manufacturer would be required to hit mileage targets.

The plunge in auto demand in the U.S. market, set off by the credit crunch and financial crisis, has slammed Japan's major automakers, sinking all but Honda into the red for the fiscal year that ended in March.

Echoing the view throughout this nation's industry, Nissan Motor Co. said it was behind Obama, stressing its record for supporting proposals for lower emissions and fuel economy, and expressed hopes for taking part "actively" in the effort.

"Nissan supports the Obama administration's plan to reduce greenhouse gases," it said.

Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga said Nissan has been working on being ecological not just because of rules, but because of growing global interest in the environment.

"This is not just to clear regulations," he told reporters Tuesday when asked about Obama's expected announcement. "Contributing to a clean environment has become part of automakers' strategy."

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090...410/1148/rss25

[RA]

Yeah they like it. GMs top sellers are trucks and suvs.

[Kratos]

30 mpg for light trucks
wtf
the only thing that comes close to that with a conventional power plant is a ford ranger 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine and manual transmission, achieving 24 city and 29 highway mpg. What truck buyer would want that? add 4.0-liter V-6, an automatic transmission, and 4WD, slashes fuel economy by more than 60 percent, to 15 city and 19 highway mpg.

I mean c'mon a Toyota Prius is as much a workhorse as the Dodge Ram is an economy car.

Small businesses buy a good amount of light trucks to get work done. They don't want some frilly little thing that's gonna be in the shop all the time if you try and tow something. So then everyone who wants a real truck has to go to a class 3 or above (10k pounds gvwr or higher) for example an f-350.

so in other words the size truck segment of the market everyone buys...the most popular way to get around in america...dead.

Big 3 nothing profitable to sell.
"but but kratos, they could add hybrid power trains"
bullshit, they still wouldn't hit 30mpg...it's a breadbox being pushed through the air, do a windtunnel test on that...and even if you did and could...why? A toyota prius is a 15k dollar car sold for 30 at barely a break even point. Figure out what that would do to the cost of ownership for a truck.

[RA]

Thats what happens when the environmentalist wackos take over. Im all for fuel efficiency, as long as the technology is there to deliver the power.