BMW to NHTSA: CAFE NOT doable.

[Deutsch]

June30


Although recently passed CAFE standards call for automakers to average 35 mpg by 2020, the rules to get to that figure aren’t exactly set in stone. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is still accepting comments on its sliding scale proposal until July 1st, and BMW has become one of the first automakers to make its voice heard.

Under the proposed sliding scale system, CAFE regulations would be set according to a vehicle’s footprint – essentially the area between all four wheels. But if that sliding scale would be put into effect, it would require BMW’s cars to average 37.7 mpg in 2015 – versus the industry’s average of 35.7 mpg – and its SUVs to average 31.7 mpg – well above the 28.6 industry average, according to Automotive News.

The German automaker went so far to call the proposal “not feasible” and called for the Bush administration to implement an alternative system that would help automakers hit hardest by the new regulations. BMW’s alternative proposal would see it and similar automakers raising fuel economy by 4.5 percent a year over the standards in place for 2010.

BMW to NHTSA: Proposed CAFE regulations are “not feasible”