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TRANSPORT CAFE TOO TOUGH FOR US TRUCKS

WITH the amount of effort they are putting in to produce green cars that meet expected future exhaust emissions standards and the Kyoto accord on global warming, car makers would like to think buyers are seeking environmentally conscious cars.

They would like that to be so but know it is not. In America, trucks (in their wider definition of the term) now amount to half of all sales, with the bigger V8 engined versions showing particularly strong growth.
US emissions standards for trucks are not as severe as for cars and the big three Detroit manufacturers, Chrysler, Ford and GM, admit that for 1997 they will not meet the truck Cafe (corporate average fuel economy) standards equivalent to 24.8mpg.
There are calls to bring truck regulations into line with cars but this is some years off. So we can regard Ford’s announcement at the Detroit Motor Show that by 1999 all its sport utilities and the Windstar MPV will meet the car LEV (low emissions vehicle) standard as a piece of good citizenship.
Ford knows if it gave customers the choice, hardly anyone would respond. Inevitably, these green machines have gained a new acronym – CUVs, for clean utility vehicles.

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