North American International Auto Show Features Virtually Emission-Free Autos

99% Cleaner Vehicles Now Available to Consumers in Showrooms

DETROIT, Jan. 10 -- Major automakers this week announced a landmark achievement that will help clean the air and protect the environment, as they introduced at the North American International Auto Show a new generation of vehicles that are 99 percent cleaner than vehicles from 30 years ago.

"The North American International Auto Show has the cleanest vehicles ever," said Alliance President & CEO Fred Webber. "These aren't just concept cars that might be available in the future. We're talking about ultra-clean vehicles that are for sale on dealer lots everywhere right now."

The dramatic 99 percent reduction in emissions from cars and light trucks results from a four-part comprehensive strategy that includes cleaning up the fuel going in to the vehicle, burning the fuel more precisely in the engine, removing undesirable emissions with a catalyst after the engine, and finally monitoring all of these systems to make sure that clean vehicles stay ultra- clean.

Automakers cooperated constructively with government regulators on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) stringent new "Tier 2" emissions standards, and the result is the cleanest cars, pick-ups, sport utility vehicles, vans and minivans in a generation. Under the stringent Tier 2 emissions standards adopted in 1999, EPA categorized automobiles and fuels as one integrated system. The result was a rulemaking effort that included unprecedented cooperation from the auto and fuel industry.

The auto industry continues to invest billions of dollars in research and development to produce advanced technology vehicles, such as clean diesel, direct injection systems, hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, liquid hydrogen in internal combustion engines and fuel cells.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of nine car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. For more information on ultra-clean vehicles, visit http://www.autoalliance.org/.