[truthguy]

CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. The key word is AVERAGE. The American Car companies fought against this because they sold more large (or larger) cars, SUV's, and Trucks than did the Foreign Manufacturers. Therefore it was easier for the Foreign Car Companies to meet the CAFE standards. What the Car Companies were arguring for is to make adjustments for the types of vehicles they sold. I wish some people on this site would do some research before posting

There are a number of idiots posting here tonight mentioning the notion that GM, Ford, and Chrysler should have made more small cars. WRONG! They lost money on small cars because they have legacy costs of about $2000-$2300 per car. It's extremely difficult if not altogether impossible to make a profit on a small car for an American Car Company. If you look at equivalent cars the gas mileage is nearly identical. If you don't believe it then look it up.

Lots of really dumb posters here on the Auto Industry. More of these posters should do some research before posting so that they will know what they are talking about.

[etcb]

Thanks for your comments. It does seem that if the words “General Motors” are in an article title, there is an almost knee-jerk reaction “America bad - Japan good”. It makes one think of Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick's description of the “Blame America first crowd”.