Automotive Aluminum Industry Statement on Today’s EPA Determination on Emissions Regs

In response to the release today of proposed fuel economy and emissions standards, following is a statement from Aluminum Association President and CEO, Heidi Brock:

 

“We are reviewing the draft rule in detail and continue to seek an outcome that maintains the competitiveness of U.S.-based suppliers, provides certainty to our automotive customers and ultimately helps produce better performing cars and trucks that consumers want to buy. As to weight and safety, leading auto safety experts agree, size—not weight—is the more influential safety determinant since bigger vehicles provide occupants more crush space in a crash. NHTSA’s assertions in the summary of its rationale (page 14) on lightweighting and safety in the draft rule are not supported by later analysis in the NPRM (page 279) that concedes, ‘… NHTSA does not consider this conclusion {that mass reduction increases fatalities} to be definitive because of the relatively wide confidence bounds of the estimates.’ The NPRM also correctly recognizes (page 279), ‘Several technologies, such as substitution of light, high-strength materials for conventional materials during vehicle redesigns, have the potential to reduce weight and conserve fuel while maintaining a vehicle’s footprint and maintaining or possibly improving the vehicle’s structural strength and handling.’ NHTSA’s own data further confirm that weight can be reduced in more than 95 percent of light trucks and passenger cars to boost MPG, while maintaining or increasing safety. For the remaining 5 percent, those very small passenger cars weighing 3,200 pounds or less, it’s simply not credible to suggest automakers will be forced to lightweight them under any regulatory scenario—and automakers have made no such claims. The insurance industry and the National Academy of Sciences, among many others, are on record confirming the existing standards resolve their prior concerns on lightweighting and safety. Thanks to smart design and lighter, yet highly crash-absorbent materials, from pickups like the Ford’s 5-star crash rated F-150, to passenger cars like Chevrolet’s 5-star crash rated Malibu, there are countless examples of redesigned vehicles on the road today maintaining or increasing their NHTSA safety ratings while shedding hundreds of pounds to boost fuel economy and performance.”