NHTSA Fines DaimlerChrysler $30,257,635.50
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sets Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards and collects fines from manufacturers who fail to meet their provisions. NHTSA recently updated their website with a list of CAFE fines the agency collected for model year '06 scofflaws. DaimlerChrysler's $30,257,635.50 penalty covers Mercedes models both imported and domestic, and represents an enormous jump from last year's cost of doing business ($16,895,472). In fact, the now defunct DaimlerChrysler's fine is the largest single amount NHTSA's ever collected, eclipsing BMW's massive penalty in 2001 ($27,985,925). That's not to say that BMW got off lightly for their '06 models; the Sultans of Stuttgart forked over $5,056,012.50 for not meeting the required fleet-wide federal mpg standard. BMW's whack just "beats" Porsche's '06 model year CAFE fines ($4,599,864.50). No wonder Porsche was trying to change the new law to get an exemption as a low volume automaker. Speaking of which, Ferrari shelled-out $842,160 to the feds for their fuel-sucking models' mpgs. As the new standards get tougher, the Germans and Italians are going to have work harder to make the grade, or dig deeper into their corporate coffers. Oh, and if you think about it, guess who really pays these fines?
More by Robert Farago
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Do any domestic makes' models that get horrible mileage take the BMW route and just put it on the damn sticker? I know the Corvette manual has that annoying thingy (easily defeated) that controls what gear you use. Why not just slap the tax on the sticker like the Germans? Or does GM have other vehicle/enviro offsets like Cobalts/Malaysian tree farms?
I don't believe any US based mfg. has ever had to pay a CAFE fine. My understanding is that the fine kicks in based on fleet averages, not individual models. One of the advantages Hummer has in being part of GM is that I believe they also have been able to avoid the fines in recent times. I'm not sure how BMW, Mercedes and others allocate the fines amongst their various models. An older list of fines collected through 2004 is here: http://www.nhtsa.gov/cars/rules/CAFE/FINES-COLLECTED-SUMMARY.html Interestingly enough, Jaguar and Volvo are both on that list pre-Ford purchase, but not after. GM and Ford never show up on it.
maxhedrm: The Province of Ontario already collects odometer readings when registering a vehicle or renewing license plates; so the renewal/registration software can do the calculation easily. Regarding putting the tax at the pump: Some studies suggest that fuel taxes move the cost of the tax to oil producers instead of consumers. A fee on fuel consumption levied on the drivers (vehicle consumers) will more likely be felt on vehicle producers than fuel suppliers.