SUVs, Pick-Up Trucks Said to Survive Tougher Fuel Standards

Sept. 17, 2009— -- For all the talk over fuel-efficient cars, saving on gas costs and saving the environment, drivers like Jan Lee aren't quite ready to ditch their gas guzzlers.

Lee said she gets about 14 miles per gallon with her large sports utility vehicle -- but that doesn't stop the 52-year-old Portland, Ore. woman from using the car to tow her travel trailer on vacations with her husband around the West Coast.

"It's something that is powerful enough to pull something with its weight," Lee said.

And, she added, her tall husband "needs something that's comfortable. A compact car just doesn't work for him."

Major automakers say that they won't leave consumers like Lee behind as they work to meet tougher new fuel efficiency standards proposed this week by the Obama administration. Companies such as Ford, General Motors and Honda all say that pick-up trucks and SUVs -- in other words, large cars requiring much more gas than their small-car counterparts -- will remain in their vehicle line-ups.

"We fully expect to remain a full-line vehicle producer, which means we will be producing vehicles from small cars up to full-size pick-up trucks to meet the needs of consumers," said Jennifer Moore, a spokeswoman for Ford, the maker of the top-selling Ford F-150 pick-up truck.

The government, too, has stressed that higher fuel-economy standards -- known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards or CAFE -- won't leave consumers bereft.

"These proposed standards would help consumers save money at the gas pump, help the environment and decrease our dependence on oil -- all while ensuring that consumers still have a full range of vehicle choices," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday in a written statement.

Released Tuesday, the Obama administration's proposed Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, or CAFE, ultimately would seek to bring the average fuel economy of cars nationwide to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, up from a current average of 25. Automakers are expected to work their way up to meeting the average, with lower targets being set for 2012 through 2015.