Search Terms: Corporate Average Fuel Economy, standards
Document 39 of 86.
Copyright 2000 The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
April
8, 2000, Saturday
SECTION:
AUTO;Pg. WHEELS-2
LENGTH:
372 words
HEADLINE:
Chrysler plans to get some mileage out of its PT Cruiser
BYLINE:
Mark Maynard
BODY:
The PT Cruiser is an example of inspired strategy at Chrysler.
The Environmental Protection Agency holds the Cruiser to passenger car standards for emissions regulations. It also meets all passenger car safety standards.
Technically, though, it is a truck, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, because the Cruiser has a flat cargo area and the seating can be folded to eliminate passenger space.
Therefore it will be lumped in with Chrysler's truck fleet for NHTSA's 20.7 mpg
Corporate Average Fuel Economy,
or CAFE,
standard
for trucks.
The automaker has many objectives for the Cruiser, but one no doubt is to meet truck criteria for CAFE classification. That helps the company save money.
The standard for passenger cars is a combined 27.5 miles per gallon, which Chrysler can meet because it has no sedans with V-8 engines. However, Chrysler sells many Dodge trucks and Jeeps with V-8s and V-10s, which make it a challenge for the automaker to meet the CAFE standard.
The CAFE year begins Sept. 1 and final sales totals have not been settled, but the penalty for exceeding the CAFE standard is steep.
"For each tenth of a mile per gallon that the sales-weighted average of the fleet fails to meet the standard, (the manufacturer has) to pay $
5.50 per truck," says Tim Hurd of NHTSA.
For the company, Cruiser is worth its weight in unleaded. It gets 20 mpg around town and 26 on the highway with the 5-speed manual and 20/25 with the optional 4-speed automatic.
That's not high by car standards, but it walks on water when compared with a V-8-powered Dodge Ram pickup at 13/17 mpg or 12/16 with automatic transmission.
Thus, if Chrysler exceeds the 20.7 mpg average it can save credits and redistribute them as needed, Hurd says.
The company will build 185,000 Cruisers annually at its plant in Mexico, with 150,000 intended for the United States, Mexico and Canada. Only U.S. sales will contribute to the CAFE rating, and only about 120,000 will be built through the end of the year.
The Cruiser also will be built at the Eurostar facility in Graz, Austria. About 50,000 will be built there for worldwide distribution.
Cruiser will be sold in 40 markets worldwide.
LOAD-DATE:
April 11, 2000
Document 39 of 86.
Search Terms: Corporate Average Fuel Economy, standards
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