Labels to Show Foreign Contents of Cars

Buyers of cars and light trucks will be able to learn how American or foreign a new vehicle is, starting Oct. 1.

A 1992 law effective on that date requires new cars and trucks weighing 8,500 pounds or less to bear labels telling where the parts of the vehicle were made.

Content would be measured by the dollar value of components, not the labor cost of assembling vehicles. That is expected to raise the apparent foreign contents of cars assembled in North America by Japanese auto makers.

Under the law, percentages of North American and foreign parts would have to be given as an average for each car line. For example, the percentage shown would be the same for all Honda Accords or Ford Tauruses, no matter where the individual vehicle was assembled.

But the label would also have to show the place of assembly.

The plan has been welcomed by the major American auto makers, but Japanese firms have called it a nuisance that doesn’t accurately reflect the North American value of their products assembled here.

The labeling requirement was sponsored by Rep. Bob Carr (D-Mich.) and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.)

Manufacturers are free to design the label, which can be included on the price sticker or fuel economy sticker or can be separate. If separate, the content label must measure at least 3 inches by 5 inches.

Each label would have to show:

* Overall combined percentage of parts that originated in the United States and Canada.

* Names of other countries that supplied more than 15% of the vehicle’s parts and the percentage from each. If several countries accounted for more than 15%, only the two main origins would have to be named.

* Where the vehicle was assembled.

* Country from which the engine originated.

* Country of origin of the transmission.