the average car on the road doesn't even get 30mpg highway. only the micro crap and hybrids. how they are going to get a whole fleet to average 34 is simply absurd.
oil is already up. i've seen $2.70 for premium already. Up almost $1
B...
We have the technology. As someone else put forth, car companies have had no compelling reason to build more efficient cars. The auto industry and oil industry go hand in hand.
The NY Auto Show this year was an absolute joke. This year, in a recession, there are reasons to scale back but for the last 5 years the concept cars have been a joke. Honda's display was atrocious.
Throw all the lobbyist out of Capital Hill and let the system run as intended, rather than lining the pockets of politicians. I guarantee we see different results.
I don't want the government in my pocket at all or over stepping their bounds, but if they cannot/will not throw out the lobbyist and do what is good for the American public then maybe legislation will help turn the industry upside down for the better.
As long as Obama stops spending his way out of our problems, I do not have a problem with modifications and tweaks to the system. Pissing money away in the name of "solving" a problem that originally stemmed from a lack of control in spending, however, is not okay. There are far more important issues to be taken up with this administration than this one, in my opinion.
We see how capable of change our American manufacturers were in the past years. All the car companies have rested on their laurels, minimized R&D costs and have just kept vehicles at the status quo for the most part. There was no catalyst for change.
It is like my industry. Companies become so large, that although there may be smaller companies with better ideas, there are simply too many barriers to enter the market and be profitable for upstarts.
Auto industry, airline industry, etc., etc., all have huge barriers to entry because of the infrastructure and upstart costs associated with launching a national campaign. I would love to see some new competition in the market.
Hopefully this opens a door for a company like the one that builds the Tesla, which is financially struggling at this point.