Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2011 22:13:31 -0400
From: Tom Glendinning
Subject: Darryl Wally Subject: Re: Chatham Chatlist #4130
I said nothing about regulation. Fuel mileage has nothing to do with regulation. My remembrance of an old Fiat and the condition of the auto industry referred to business and market movements, how we slept while Europe profited.
Forcing requirements of mileage for vehicles is a fairly useless practice and favors higher pricing for cheaper vehicles. If Americans want smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles, they will buy them or spend more money at the tank. Tell me how I can get 20 mpg from my dump truck, please. BTW, I will not buy a new one because the economy is so bad that I can’t afford one.
If you wish for me to buy a new vehicle and require me to do so by regulation, then have a check ready to pay for it. And get ready to buy a new one that gets 50 mpg at the same moment. If that’s the standard you wish to force on others, lead the way. I follow those who lead by example, not those who control from the shadows by regulation.
Tom Glendinning