Detroit's Big Three automakers lag industry on fuel economy (updated)
19/11/2021 17:07
(Recasts with full report, adds details)
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Detroit's Big Three
automakers, General Motors GM.N , Ford Motor Co F.N and
Chrysler parent Stellantis FCAU.N lag other automakers in fuel
economy performance as they sell a rising number of large trucks
and SUVs, a government report released on Friday shows.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said fuel economy
for new vehicles hit a high in the 2020 model year at 25.4 miles
per gallon but added that projected industry fuel economy for
the 2021 model year will decline to 25.3 mpg.
The three U.S. automakers have the lowest fleet wide fuel
economy of 14 major car companies.
GM is projected to be the lowest of all automakers in 2021
with a fleet average of 21.5 mpg for all its vehicles, just
behind Stellantis at 21.6 mpg, with Ford Motor Co at 22.7 mpg.
The report said since 2004, carbon dioxide emissions have
decreased by 24% as fuel economy has improved by 32%.
The report said only Tesla Inc TSLA.O , Subaru 9778.T
and Honda Motor 7267.T met requirements without using credits.
Automakers can either purchase credits or use credits earned
from earlier model years.
The report shows GM, Daimler AG's DAIGn.DE Mercedes and
Stellantis all bought significant credits in 2020, while Tesla,
Honda and Toyota Motor 7203.T all sold credits.
In August, the EPA proposed reversing the Trump-era
loosening of vehicle emissions rules with a new plan to boost
efficiency 10% in the 2023 model year, aiming for a fleet
average of 52 mpg by 2026.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy said
"automakers are producing cars that are barely more fuel
efficient on average than what they sold a year ago."
Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign,
said the report shows "auto companies have made sky-high
promises to turn out clean cars, but the EPA’s report shows they
have produced very few."
He said the 2020 improvement - just 1.9% over 2019 - showed
that "with weak rules, automakers will keep pushing gas
guzzlers, sticking consumers with high gas bills and plentiful
pollution."
For 2020, GM and Ford both averaged 23 miles per gallon,
while Stellantis averaged 21.3 mpg. Tesla, which makes only
electric vehicles, led the industry, while Honda averaged 29.1
mpg, which was first among automakers building gas-powered
vehicles.
The report showed that over the last five years, GM's and
Ford's performances barely improved, while Stellantis' fell by
0.5 mpg.
Stellantis said on Friday it is investing more than $35
billion through 2025 to develop battery electric vehicles but
said "consumer and manufacturing incentives and recharging
infrastructure" are needed to move the market toward EVs.
The report also showed average vehicle weight in 2020 rose
to another all-time high of 4,166 pounds, while average
horsepower and size both also set records.
(Reporting by David Shepardson;
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Dan Grebler)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))