Nation IN BRIEF : ARKANSAS : Clinton Confers With Auto Makers

President-elect Bill Clinton listened to U.S. auto makers’ concerns about Japanese imports and tougher gas mileage standards and pledged a “fresh start” in cooperation among government, industry and labor. “What we had hoped for was a constructive dialogue. We were not disappointed,” Ford Motor Co. Chairman Harold Poling said after Clinton’s two-hour meeting with representatives of the Big Three auto makers and United Auto Workers President Owen Bieber in Little Rock, Ark. Poling said Clinton told the group he is still in favor of tougher fuel efficiency standards but “he didn’t want to do anything that was detrimental to the auto industry.”