FCA Fined $77 Million For Missing U.S. CAFE Fuel Economy Target

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https://www.carscoops.com/2019/02/fca-fined-77-million-missing-u-s-cafe-fuel-economy-targets/

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has revealed that it paid a $77 million civil penalty because its passenger cars built in the U.S. failed to meet required fuel economy targets for the 2016 model year.

Bloomberg reports that the car manufacturer was the only one to pay such a penalty for 2016 MY under the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÃ) requirements. This is the largest fine issued to a single company in at least five years, the NHTSA reports. FCA paid it in the fourth quarter of 2018.

"We at FCA are committed to improving the fuel efficiency of our fleet and expanding our U.S. manufacturing footprint," head of external affairs at Fiat Chrysler for North Amerca Shane Karr said.

"Ultimately, both goals are better served by a CAFE program more closely aligned to the U.S. market, than by requiring companies to make large compliance payments because assumptions made in 2011 turned out to be wrong."

Fiat Chrysler, as well as a number of other car manufacturers, have been outspoken critics of current fuel economy requirements that were put in place during Barack Obama's presidency and, since President Donald Trump took office, have been pushing for less stringent standards.

The NHSTA and Environmental Protection Agency appear to be hearing these calls and have proposed capping mileage requirements at 37 mpg after 2020 rather than raising them to 47 mpg by 2025, as called for by the Obama administration-imposed target.
 
They make great large cars, trucks, and SUV's, which naturally don't lend themselves to stellar fuel economy. Add in cheap gas, and you have a population that wants the big V8's in their big cars. And the numbers don't lie, they sell pretty well. They're just rolling the cost of that fine into each and every one of the vehicles they produce.

CAFE is dumb anyway. People are going to buy what they want.
 
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So there's absolutely no reason, or incentive for OEMs to install, and make a "one size fits all" manual recommendation for thin oils ?
 
"CAFE is dumb anyway. People are going to buy what they want."

We gotta have clean air. However it gets done is OK with me and a lot of other people I suspect.

Do you have a better way of creating downward pressure on pollutants? Let's hear it.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
"CAFE is dumb anyway. People are going to buy what they want."

We gotta have clean air. However it gets done is OK with me and a lot of other people I suspect.

Do you have a better way of creating downward pressure on pollutants? Let's hear it.


There are better ways than arbitrary mpg standards that all the auto manufacturers game. Case in point? GM's turbo 4 cylinder truck that on paper gets good mileage. In the real world, it loses to the bigger engines. Or DaimlerChrysler classifying some very obvious "cars" as "light trucks." So yeah... while I don't have a better system to write out off the top of my head right this second, I maintain my opinion CAFE is dumb.

You can also have clean air with a big ol' v8... modern emissions systems are pretty good at achieving that.
 
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Originally Posted by Skippy722
Originally Posted by Kira
"CAFE is dumb anyway. People are going to buy what they want."

We gotta have clean air. However it gets done is OK with me and a lot of other people I suspect.

Do you have a better way of creating downward pressure on pollutants? Let's hear it.


There are better ways than arbitrary mpg standards that all the auto manufacturers game. Case in point? GM's turbo 4 cylinder truck that on paper gets good mileage. In the real world, it loses to the bigger engines. Or DaimlerChrysler classifying some very obvious "cars" as "light trucks." So yeah... while I don't have a better system to write out off the top of my head right this second, I maintain my opinion CAFE is dumb.

You can also have clean air with a big ol' v8... modern emissions systems are pretty good at achieving that.


IMO from a political perspective it's not possible to increase the tax on gasoline which would drive demand for more FE vehicles. Consequently the powers-at-be are forced to try to accomplish that goal via CAFE. In that past manufacturers were able to game the test protocol by implementing turbocharging with smaller engines. The end game is to have everyone drive EV's or hybrids, but of course it's going to require a implementation of some new form of road tax because tax collected on gasoline/diesel is going to drop due to lower demand.
 
Originally Posted by billt460
So where or who does the $77 Million in fines go to?


Down a Federally subsidized rat hole would be my guess.
 
Originally Posted by billt460
So where or who does the $77 Million in fines go to?

Wasted, like a lot of federal dollars.
 
I agree , wasted . Probably goes into bureaucrats pockets via bonuses or something . Otherwise , it would pay for a lot of coffee & donuts .
 
Originally Posted by Kestas
We're talking about CAFE and fuel economy, not pollution. The two do not necessarily go hand in hand.


+1.

Always amazed me that a 50 MPG VW diesel could be labeled a "gross polluter", while an 8 MPG Ford Excursion could be labeled a partial zero emission vehicle. LOL. The issue is that people cant determine what boogey man they are chasing...
 
So pay the fine. What's the big deal? Even if CAFE disappeared overnight there are markets that will still demand fuel efficiency. Companies would prefer not to engineer multiple fuel systems, engines, emission systems.
Probably comes down to CAFE or higher fuel taxes. Just a theory. Don't think oil companies would like their product taxed more. Not saying anything is the best solution but the idea of low fuel taxes and no requirements on fuel efficiency is not something I see happening ever again. Just a prediction.
 
Originally Posted by 555
So pay the fine. What's the big deal? Even if CAFE disappeared overnight there are markets that will still demand fuel efficiency. Companies would prefer not to engineer multiple fuel systems, engines, emission systems.
Probably comes down to CAFE or higher fuel taxes. Just a theory. Don't think oil companies would like their product taxed more. Not saying anything is the best solution but the idea of low fuel taxes and no requirements on fuel efficiency is not something I see happening ever again. Just a prediction.


Oil companies won't have to worry about their product getting taxed more because EV adoption is reducing fuel purchases which also reduces tax collected. I envision some sort of toll system or GPS tracking.
 
They can easily meet CAFE targets if they would move forward with the Direct Injection and Turbo setup they designed the PentaStar to have in future upgraded versions. They haven't done this yet and the PentaStar is an engine they use widely in a lot of their vehicles and modifying this one engine to be upgraded with this technology would give them a good bang for their buck across their line-up.

They can then modify the other engines to be direct injection as well.

Also add Start-Stop engine technology across the whole line instead of select models.

This is all doable. Hyundai, Toyota, Ford and Mazda are doing it so why can't they?
 
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Originally Posted by JHZR2
Originally Posted by Kestas
We're talking about CAFE and fuel economy, not pollution. The two do not necessarily go hand in hand.


+1.

Always amazed me that a 50 MPG VW diesel could be labeled a "gross polluter", while an 8 MPG Ford Excursion could be labeled a partial zero emission vehicle. LOL. The issue is that people cant determine what boogey man they are chasing...


Great point that many people cant wrap their head around.
 
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Originally Posted by Kestas
We're talking about CAFE and fuel economy, not pollution. The two do not necessarily go hand in hand.


+1.

Always amazed me that a 50 MPG VW diesel could be labeled a "gross polluter", while an 8 MPG Ford Excursion could be labeled a partial zero emission vehicle. LOL. The issue is that people cant determine what boogey man they are chasing...


Same with the 90s Honda Civic HX.

Somehow a V10 ford Excursion is better for the environment than a 50MPG Civic or VW.
 
Originally Posted by Miller88
Originally Posted by JHZR2
Originally Posted by Kestas
We're talking about CAFE and fuel economy, not pollution. The two do not necessarily go hand in hand.


+1.

Always amazed me that a 50 MPG VW diesel could be labeled a "gross polluter", while an 8 MPG Ford Excursion could be labeled a partial zero emission vehicle. LOL. The issue is that people cant determine what boogey man they are chasing...


Same with the 90s Honda Civic HX.

Somehow a V10 ford Excursion is better for the environment than a 50MPG Civic or VW.


It's not. It's a political decision because domestics make more money on SUV's so they're given a different metric.
 
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