PCar, (and others) press for some relief on proposed new fuel economy/emissions standards. Gov't at "work". The embolden is mine.
BR, mD

MARCH 26, 2010Porsche Presses for Easier Fuel Rules

Sports-Car Maker Wants More Room to Maneuver Under Proposed Efficiency, Emission Standards


By VANESSA FUHRMANS

On the open road, few cars are faster than a Porsche 911. But in the race to meet new U.S. fuel-economy and emissions standards, the German sports-car maker may struggle to cross the finish line.

As the Obama administration gets ready in the coming days to finalize a package of new rules that would mandate increased fuel economy and curb cars' greenhouse-gas emissions, Porsche AG is one of a handful of niche sports-car makers pressing for special treatment and arguing that the proposed standards would hit them disproportionately hard.










The German auto maker would have one of the longest roads to travel to meet the regulations as they are currently proposed. That's because the targets are formulated in a way that would require Porsche and its high-octane roadsters to meet the same standards as many economy-car brands, such as Suzuki Motor Corp. To do so, Porsche would have to boost its fuel efficiency significantly more than other car makers.

The upshot, Porsche argued in documents it submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation last November, is that the rules "would perversely require Porsche to become the fuel efficiency leader in the United States"—an impossible feat, it claims, without dramatically altering the sharp handling and other features that are Porsche's high-performance selling points.

"It's not that we can't do it, but we'd lose competitiveness," said Bernd Harling, Porsche's U.S. spokesman.

The company and its lobbyists have been pressing the case in reports and meetings with regulatory officials, hoping the government will hear their arguments for more room to maneuver. One recommendation is to let small, limited-line car makers, such as Porsche, apply easier targets to a greater portion of their sales volume.

But the issue, observers say, illustrates the difficulties of crafting fuel-economy and emissions regulations that are equitable and fine-tuned to the variation in cars while, at the same time, aren't ridden with loopholes to address the special needs of particular corporate interests.

Though the government shouldn't be favoring or disfavoring high-performance sports cars or other outliers, "the idea of continually giving exemptions is not a good approach to an industry that needs a clear signal of what the policy is going to be," said John Graham, dean of Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs, who helped craft auto fuel-economy regulations under President George W. Bush.

The new rules, formally proposed last fall and slated to be finalized by April 1, are still subject to potential tweaks. In the meantime, government regulatory officials say they won't comment on their final wording or Porsche and other auto makers' recommendations.

The proposals aim to boost the fuel economy of auto makers to a fleetwide average of 35.5 miles per gallon and reduce carbon-dioxide emissions to an average of 250 grams per mile per vehicle by 2016.

In trying to avoid pushing car makers simply to produce smaller cars to meet the standards, the rules are based largely according to a car's so-called footprint, or criteria such as the length of a car's wheelbase and track width. The smaller the footprint, the higher the miles-per-gallon target. The wheelbases of many sports cars are quite short for better handling. But that holds Porsche and others to the same targets, under the proposed rules, as small, already fuel-efficient cars.

Analysts say Jaguar Land Rover, whose officials also have met with administration officials during recent months, is in a similar situation. A spokesman for the company declined to comment beyond saying that it is "working on fuel efficiency and determining how the regulations will impact us."

The German car maker's backstop, though, is that Volkswagen AG is expected to complete a planned takeover of Porsche, which would allow it to offset its high-octane sports cars against Volkswagen's much broader fleet that includes smaller, more fuel-efficient models. But, says Porsche's Mr. Harling, "as a matter of principle it should be regulation that reasonably can be met by Porsche as a stand-alone company."

The sports-car maker has found little sympathy among fellow German manufacturers, which already stand to benefit from a concession in the rules that would allow low-volume auto makers, mostly foreign ones, to apply easier targets to a limited portion of their sales volume. The concession also applies to Porsche, which sold just under 20,000 cars in the U.S. in 2009 and 26,000 in 2008.

"We have to stretch [to meet the new targets] but we will get there, and so we don't complain," said Daimler AG Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche at the Geneva motor show earlier this month. "And I would prefer if others complain, they not do it in the name of their neighbors.

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