Law Should Be Changed to Let Detroit 3 Sell in U.S. Cars Now Only Sold in Europe

[NickD 202]

"From http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2...-in-europe.html

"Law Should Be Changed to Let Detroit 3 Sell in U.S. Cars Now Only Sold in Europe

In all their talk of Detroit's need to make fuel-efficient vehicles, members of Congress managed to overlook a simple fact: General Motors and Ford already make popular, high-quality, high-mileage automobiles.

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The 2009 diesel-powered Ford Ka, available in Europe but not the U.S., gets 60 miles per gallon.

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The trouble is, those very desirable vehicles are sold only in Europe because of regulatory differences between the U.S. and the European Union. So says an article published in The New York Times.

The automakers' reluctance to sell those cars domestically is not as simple as the vehicles' inability to meet U.S. standards for equipment, safety and exhaust emissions; there's also the cost involved in the certification process. Changing the law to allow the U.S. sale of cars compliant with European emissions and crash standards, even for just a few years, would allow GM and Ford to quickly add some of their popular, high-mileage European models to their lineups in America.

It's reasonable to think that within a year, the Times reported, GM could import the tiny Opel Agila, the sporty Chevy Spark, and the midsize Opel Insignia, which won the 2009 European Car of the Year award. Ford's improved lineup could include the Ka subcompact, the universally praised Fiesta and the S-Max minivan, which blows the sliding doors off any current domestic competition.

Crash testing for new cars, often referred to as New Car Assessment Programs, varies by geographic region, though a 10-year plan is in place to define a global standard. The NCAP test results, summarized in the United States in easy-to-grasp star ratings (five is best, one is worst), provides useful information for consumers, though it is not the same as the federal tests conducted by automakers to certify new models before they can go on sale.

Currently, the U.S. and Japan each have their own standards, while Europe and Australia both use the European NCAP standard. The U.S. standard, administered by the National Highway Safety Administration, involves the assessment the forces on a crash dummy after a full-width frontal crash into a concrete barrier at 35 miles per hour. A similar test for side impacts sends a 3,015-pound trolley at a 63-degree angle into the side of a stationary car at 38.5 mph, the Times reported.

In Europe, the NCAP standards vary slightly -- the full-frontal impact speed is 40 mph rather than 35, and the side impact trolley weighs only 2,090 pounds and hits the car at 90 degrees rather than 63 degrees.

Additionally, the European NCAP standard adds an offset frontal impact into a deformable barrier to the testing regimen. This test is intended to simulate a head-on collision, and while the test typically imparts less energy to the safety dummies, it poses extreme stresses to the safety structure of the car and is especially helpful in determining the risk of intrusion injuries.

Critics consider the lack of an offset crash in the NHTSA program to be an oversight, and advocate the wholesale adoption of European NCAP testing procedures. But given the usual similarity of results between the tests, the reasonable conclusion seems that either testing regimen can ensure safe automobiles.

Perhaps the biggest difference in the safety standards is that the U.S. standard requires a safety measure, typically an airbag, for an unbelted passenger in a frontal accident. In Europe, no such requirement exists, according to the Times. The NHTSA says that the U.S. standard is required because seatbelt compliance in the U.S. is low, but critics contend airbags that comply with NCAP standards are too powerful and actually reduce safety for belted occupants.

Emissions standards would likely cause more consternation. The differences between European emissions standards and the standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency are difficult to measure because the test cycles used to measure nitrogen-oxides and particulate-matter emissions differ. But European and American standards for gasoline-powered cars have been nearly identical since 2007.

European standards allow slightly higher particulate emissions for diesel cars, but nearly all cars sold in Europe could still pass both standards and even the stringent standards set by the California Air Resources Board.

Other compliance issues would need to be addressed in order to bring European-market GM and Ford models into the U.S. -- English-unit speedometers and odometers would have to be fitted, as would U.S.-specification headlights and side markers. And United States acceptance of these standards might have to include some type of liability protection to prevent manufacturers from being sued for safety differences specific to these standards.

But allowing the sale of cars compliant with European standards, at least for a few years, would reduce the enormous costs of emissions testing and crash testing new models for the U.S. market. Such a move might even satisfy critics who charge that the domestic manufacturers have brought the crisis upon themselves by failing to build the right types of vehicles.

As an added benefit, American consumers could get a few great new cars."

PBS had the engineering manager of the Ford Hybrid division, of course pushing hybrid technology. One caller called in asking how good hybrids are in our 30 below Wisconsin weather, his honest answer was quite correct, not very good as any battery loses efficiency at those cold temperatures.

Another called in, why can't we buy Ford made cars that are sold in Europe that can get 50+ mpg, his answer was far more wishy-washy in that we have much stricter emission laws. From all indications, the European emission laws are as strict if not stricter than ours. In regards to safety, Europeans have a much more intelligent view on airbags than we do and realize they cause just as many deaths for younger people than lives saved for adults that refuse to wear their belts.

So it's not a scientific issue as much as a political issue as to why we can't buy these cars here. Yet another factor are the fuel standards of the two different nations. If you put ####### in the tank, you will get ####### out of the exhaust, it's that simple.

Feel the major cause of not letting our very own domestic vehicle manufacturers that already have the designs and tooling to produce those vehicles are are blocked by an oil company controlled congress and EPA. And agree with changing the law.

[Jasman0717 9]

I could park one of those little fellas in the bed of my Dodge

[Ban Hammer 13,330]

I could park one of those little fellas in the bed of my Dodge

provided claudeth didn't fill it up shopping

[Jasman0717 9]

I could park one of those little fellas in the bed of my Dodge

provided claudeth didn't fill it up shopping

Oh God, and she wants to go out today

[Ban Hammer 13,330]

I could park one of those little fellas in the bed of my Dodge

provided claudeth didn't fill it up shopping

Oh God, and she wants to go out today

good luck

[SMB x2 0]

Oh man, that's absolutely staggering. They can bring these cars over, if they're of a mind to. The Focus is here in the US, and I see the Vauxhall/Opel Astra and Vectra lurking about disguised as Saturns. Hell, the 2010 Focus is to be a unified model across all territories, according to some blurb we had through the mail.

They should have ironed out some sort of NHTSA <-> NCAP exchange program years ago. They may have been able to mitigate spiralling fuel costs (which have admittedly settled a bit) and this economic meltdown.

Silly.

Stu

[Jasman0717 9]

I could park one of those little fellas in the bed of my Dodge

provided claudeth didn't fill it up shopping

Oh God, and she wants to go out today

good luck

Right now she is burning through the $50 phone card I got her to call her family with.

[Nagishkaw 510]

F##k Detroit.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Lets consume more gas people! SUPPORT THE F**CKERS!

On the other hand, I'm safe. Gas can get to $5/gallon and it wouldn't affect me as much. Although those 15k-32k income families might differ in the result. I'm very surprised that those families tend to drive gas guzzlers.

[NickD 202]

This is the kind of stuff I see around town.

More fun to watch a family of six pile into that single front seat with a couple of shopping carts full of groceries.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Well, if they want to bring these cars over, they better hurry. The European subs are increasingly looking to split from their ailing US parents. Here the newest: Opel to split from General Motors.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

California has some f-upped laws when it comes to diesel. CA is the most wasteful state in the US.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

California has some f-upped laws when it comes to diesel. CA is the most wasteful state in the US.

Don't let SRVT hear that.