Detroit automakers and the unions they usually tussle with came together for once to rail against tighter fuel economy standards. The head of the United Auto Workers and the heads of the Big Three told Congress that increasing mileage standards for new vehicles would be an expensive, job-destroying catastrophe.
"This could include the closing of additional facilities and the loss of tens of thousand of automotive jobs," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, who has seen a few facilities shuttered and jobs lost already in recent weeks, what with Ford's tailspin and all.
And the slams kept coming. CAFE standards have "failed dramatically," said GM CEO Rick Wagoner. The industry needs government "to be our partners, not our adversaries," said Ford CEO Alan Mulally, who knows from adversity. Chrysler Group president and CEO Tom LaSorda invoked alt fuels and market forces (as in, "Are you in the market for a Big Three automaker?"). And Toyota too? Toyota, too.
But that was not the final word. "Inaction will not work, and telling us what doesn't work is useful but no longer sufficient," replied House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell of Michigan. Other members of Congress were similarly unimpressed. "The testimony that you're giving is completely wrong," Representative Ed Markey of Massachussetts told the auto execs. Ouch.
In the end, and for what it's worth, the automakers pledged cooperation. This fight isn't over, but round one did not go to the team from Motor City.
