Fuelishness

Oh, what a difference a decade makes. In an attempt to cut U.S. energy consumption after the shocking 400% increase in the price of imported oil in 1973, Congress in 1975 passed a law that required auto companies to improve the average fuel economy of their new cars gradually to 27.5 m.p.g. by 1985. Now, three Administrations and a glut of cheaper oil later, gasoline-saving passions do not run quite so high. Last week the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which enforces the fuel-efficiency requirements, agreed to lower the standard to 26 m.p.g. for 1987 and 1988 cars.

The decision was a victory for General Motors and Ford, which faced combined fines of up to $600 million because their vehicles did not and would not meet the 27.5-m.p.g. standard for 1986, 1987 and 1988. Both companies had campaigned vigorously against rigid enforcement of the law, contending that tens of thousands of autoworkers would be laid off as the firms slowed production of larger cars to bring the average m.p.g. for all their vehicles down to the standard.

To meet the requirements, GM had threatened to close some of its big-car factories, including Detroit's Clark Street Cadillac factory and the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird plant in Van Nuys, Calif. The company organized a letter-writing drive among more than 10,000 workers, local officials and state legislators that resulted in a cascade of mail to the Transportation Department during the past year. A GM statement last week said that the Government's leniency was "good news for American consumers and autoworkers" and "in keeping with the requirements of both the law and the real world." That reality: sales of big cars have jumped as gasoline prices have fallen. Ford had threatened to discontinue manufacturing such full-size cars as the LTD and the Mercury Grand Marquis in the U.S. or to raise their foreign content to 26% or more. This would get them averaged in with gasoline-sipping imports, which would far outnumber the relatively few guzzlers.

Supporting the arguments of both Ford and GM, NHTSA Administrator Diane Steed said that a "higher standard would have resulted in the loss of jobs for tens of thousands of workers." Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca attacked the decision, calling it a "mockery of the law" and "unfair to manufacturers who have based their product plans on federal standards." Chrysler spent $4.8 billion in redesigning its cars, in part to get fuel consumption down to the mandated level. Now, notes the frustrated Iacocca, the Government is changing the rules in the middle of the game.