Statement of Thomas W. LaSorda, President and Chief Executive Officer DaimlerChrysler Corporation
March 14 2007 - 3:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, March 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The following is a
statement of Thomas W. LaSorda, President and Chief Executive
Officer DaimlerChrysler Corporation before the Subcommittee on
Energy and Air Quality Committee on Energy and Commerce U.S. House
of Representatives: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,
thank you for inviting me to testify before you on the subject of
climate change. DaimlerChrysler is committed to developing new,
advanced technologies, which minimize the effects our products and
processes have on global climate and the environment in general. We
recognize that climate change and national security are serious
concerns that require all of us -- individuals, industry and
government -- to take actions to help reduce our dependence on oil
and emissions of CO2. And, we have already taken actions to do so.
DaimlerChrysler has long been committed to reducing petroleum
consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases of its motor
vehicles. * We have produced more than 1.5 million flexible fuel
vehicles (FFVs) -- vehicles capable of running on E85 -- in spite
of the limited availability of E85 fuel to consumers. That is more
than 10 percent of our production over the past nine years, a
higher percentage than any other manufacturer. We stand ready to
make, by 2012, 50 percent of our production as either FFVs or
vehicles capable of running on biodiesel. * DaimlerChrysler offers
seven clean-diesel models this year -- providing improved fuel
economy of 30 percent and greenhouse gas reductions of 20 percent.
As we announced at the Washington Auto Show in January, our new
heavy-duty Dodge Ram diesel meets the stringent, 50-state, 2010
emission standards TODAY. And, we are actively pushing for the
adoption of a national standard for B20 biodiesel fuel to speed its
adoption in the marketplace. * We are partners in a global alliance
in hybrid development with GM and BMW in developing a new hybrid
system that we expect will leapfrog the competition. The first
Chrysler Group product -- the Dodge Durango -- will be on sale in
2008. * DaimlerChrysler is a leader in producing hybrid
diesel-electric buses through our Orion transit bus brand. We also
have the only demonstration fleet of plug-in hybrids in service --
our Dodge Sprinter vans. * As you may not know, we are the world's
leader in fuel cell vehicle production, with more than 100 vehicles
-- ranging from small passenger cars to city transit buses -- in
worldwide operation today. Thirty-two of these are in the U.S. We
are putting significant resources into developing these new types
of propulsion with the objective of significantly reducing
greenhouse gases. * And we continue to put advanced technology into
our gasoline engine vehicles. Last year we introduced a new World
Engine for our 4-cylinder cars and trucks, along with a new
fuel-efficient continuously variable transmission. * Just last
month we announced a $3 billion powertrain investment. This
investment will include the development and production of: -- A
significantly more fuel efficient V-6 engine family; and -- New
cutting-edge transmissions that improve fuel economy by an
additional 5-10 percent alone. * Plus, we will double the
production capacity of our 30 plus mpg 4- cylinder engine plant in
Michigan to 840,000 units per year. * All in all, these investments
will further secure tens of thousands of U.S. jobs associated with
the engineering and manufacturing of the vehicles that will benefit
from these new technologies. * We're also addressing our product
mix. Earlier this year, we announced a 40-plus mpg "Smart" city car
that will arrive in the U.S. early next year. I've focused on what
we are doing, from a technology perspective, to reduce petroleum
consumption -- and, since they are directly related, greenhouse
gases. But I need to mention one more item in this vein. For those
who advocate 4 percent annual CAFE increases over the next 10 years
-- which translates to a 50 percent fuel economy increase -- we
know how to do that, too. In fact, we already do it ... in Europe.
The U.S. combined fleet averages 24-25 mpg, and in Europe the fleet
averages 36 mpg. That's a 50 percent difference. Why is there a
huge disparity between our fleets there and here? After all, we are
the same companies in Europe that we are in the U.S., with access
to similar technologies. The difference is the European approach to
energy and greenhouse gas policies. They've made some tough
political choices. They've highly taxed gasoline, making the price
three times higher than in the U.S., and they have incentives on
diesel fuel. As a result of these policies, fuel economy is always
high on a customer's list, and not just when there's a spike in
fuel prices. Through policies which affect consumer demand, the mix
of vehicles sold in Europe is radically different than here --
about 60 percent compacts or smaller, compared to about 15 percent
here; and about 50 percent of passenger vehicles are diesel
powered. There's no magic at work here. A gas-engine mid-size car
in Europe gets the same mileage as a gas-engine mid-size car in the
U.S. It's just that customers demand a very different mix of
vehicles in Europe. The European model, while far from perfect, is
based on policies that leverage demand and market forces, not on
policies that fight them. However, in the U.S., our policies have
historically addressed the supply side -- light-duty vehicle
fuel-economy standards. But, consider how a 50- percent
fuel-economy improvement relates to new vehicle technology alone.
If all the new vehicles sold in the U.S. 10 years from now were
hybrids or diesels -- something that no one really believes is
feasible -- fuel economy would improve by only 25-30 percent. U.S.
policymakers must adopt a new and unique formula that fits here.
DaimlerChrysler supports a three-pronged, comprehensive approach to
climate change and energy security; one that includes a combination
of: * vehicle efficiency improvements; * the expanded use of
alternative fuels -- such as ethanol and biodiesel; and, * the
harnessing of market forces to help drive consumer demand. We all
need to be very clear on one point -- new vehicle efficiency
improvements alone will never result in the overall decline in
petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions we need. The
demand for fuel will continue to grow, as more drivers enter the
market and vehicles are driven longer distances. There are more
than 230 million light-duty vehicles currently in use today in the
U.S. which travel nearly 3 trillion miles. That is nearly 13,000
miles traveled by each vehicle, each year -- an increase of about
30 percent since 1985. Thus, greenhouse gases and the demand for
petroleum will not be offset by only addressing efficiency
improvements among the 16-17 million new vehicles that enter the
U.S. market each year. In order to decrease total greenhouse gas
emissions and petroleum consumption, we need to accelerate the
adoption of alternative fuels such as E85 and bio-diesel, which
will affect a greater proportion of the population of light duty
vehicles. And by the way, while travel is growing in the U.S., it
will grow exponentially as China and India increase the global
automotive market dramatically. The combined Indian and Chinese
existing car fleet will almost triple during the next 10 years to
about 90 million vehicles, while the U.S. fleet is forecast to grow
25 percent. To address this increase in demand, we need a
comprehensive approach that addresses energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions from all sectors of the U.S. economy, and encourages the
most efficient reductions in energy use. Our approach should not
just address the supply of energy-efficient products, but also spur
demand for them, while establishing reasonable time-tables for
compliance and realistic levels of reductions. Although it should
go without saying, I'll say it anyway: This effort needs to be
national in scope. We need to avoid an unacceptable and inefficient
patchwork of inconsistent Federal, State, and local approaches. In
fact, to truly be effective in curbing greenhouse gases, we need a
global solution. On the vehicle efficiency side, we at
DaimlerChrysler recognize the need for action. And we're taking it.
Every day, our engineers are working to reduce greenhouse gases and
petroleum consumption. We absolutely will be part of the solution
and we will accelerate our efforts. We also support reforming the
CAFE program to base it on vehicle attributes and pledge to
continue to work with NHTSA to establish maximum feasible levels of
fuel economy -- levels that are based on sound science and that
recognize the limits of technology, cost, and consumer demand. But
again, if we intend to make meaningful progress in reducing
petroleum consumption in this country, in addition to vehicle
technology improvements, we look to the Federal Government to
establish policies that address consumer demand and bend the bias
of transportation fuels toward lower carbon alternatives.
DATASOURCE: Chrysler Group CONTACT: Shawn Morgan, +1-248-512-2692,
cell: +1-248-760-2621, Jason Vines, +1-248-512-3164, cell:
+1-248-752-3309, Colin McBean, +1-202-414-6713, cell:
+1-248-202-8047, all of Chrysler Group Web site:
http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/
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