MI Auto Times reports on some of the top stories making the industry rounds, including a delay in the federal government's plans to give fuel mileage a significant boost.
DETROIT, M.I. – Fuel mileage, OnStar and less deadly SUVs are some of the topics being discussed in today's roundup of industry news.
Ford Pulls Ad
Ford had been running a commercial in which a "real Ford customer" is walked into a news conference. When the customer was asked what made him decide to buy Ford, he replied, "I wasn't going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from a manufacturer that's standing on their own. Win, lose or draw, that's what America's about. It's taking the chance to succeed and understanding when you fail that you've got to pick yourself up and go back to work, and Ford is that company for me."
Lo and behold, Ford didn't take a bailout, but the company did manage to score .9 billion in government loans, the most taken so far, from the 2009 billion advanced technology vehicle loan program created by the U.S.
Department of Energy. So far, Ford has used the money to fix up factories and create more fuel-efficient technology."Fuel Mileage Can Wait"
The Obama administration has announced it plans to delay new fuel-efficiency rules until the middle of November. More time is required to review all the comments made by environmental groups, automakers and consumers. The new rules of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) would require automakers to produce a fleet of cars and light trucks that would average 54.5 miles per gallon in 2025, with a smaller benchmark of 35.5 mpg achieved by 2017. More time has also been requested to evaluate the technology that would be required to implement these fuel mileage changes.
OnStar, Off Move
OnStar has announced it will forego plans that would track consumers in their vehicles after their OnStar subscription expired.
Earlier in September, OnStar emailed customers that beginning in December of 2011 their product would continue to monitor data from their vehicle even after they canceled their services unless the customer took action and asked OnStar to not collect their data.
After receiving complaints, the Federal Trade Commission was asked to investigate, all of which prompted OnStar to abandon the practice before it began.
"We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers," OnStar President Linda Marshall said in a statement. "This is why we are leaving the decision in our customers' hands. We listened, we responded and we hope to maintain the trust of our more than 6 million customers."
MI Auto Times will continue to follow these topics and report on any updates in the future.
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