Guest Opinion: CAFE is About to Catch Up With Us

Washington DC March 15, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that Keith Crain, publisher and editor-in-chief of Automotive News, says that the auto industry had more than 30 years to prepare for a hike in CAFE standards and is still unprepared for what Congress is about to do.

The domestic industry in particular will struggle to meet those standards. Even some of the Japanese carmakers will be challenged; they have been adding large vehicles to their model mix, and that will reduce their current CAFE tremendously.

Had there had been small CAFE increases every year, we'd have substantially higher CAFE today with little or no difficulty or pain. Instead, Congress is pushing for a substantial jump in standards, and it's going to be painful for just about everyone.

No one in the auto industry wants to suggest a number for fear that it will be used as a baseline the Democratic-controlled Congress.