Major Car Makers Form Lobbying Group
Nine major auto makers, including General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler, formed a lobbying group Tuesday that will largely focus on safety and environmental issues.
The creation of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers comes as car makers are facing a new array of government regulations covering issues such as air bags and emissions.
The new group will not deal with trade, a potentially contentious issue that has often placed U.S. auto companies at odds with their foreign brethren.
The Washington-based alliance reflects the growing global nature of the industry and the convergence of interests among manufacturers as they struggle to develop and adopt new safety and environmental technology.
“Our goal is to work together on public policy matters of common interest . . . to find sensible, effective and economically viable solutions,” said Peter Pestillo, vice chairman of Ford, who will serve as the group’s chairman for the first year.
The organization owes its birth to the merger last year of Daimler-Benz of Germany and Chrysler Corp. That marriage led to the dissolution of the American Automobile Manufacturers Assn., a trade group that represented GM, Ford and Chrysler, because its charter prohibited membership by foreign entities.
The AAMA was formed in 1992 during a period of acrimony among U.S. and Japanese auto makers. The Big Three, previously in an alliance with Volvo of Sweden and Honda Motor Co. of Japan, hoped the AAMA would present a more united front on trade issues in Washington. Although the auto makers often found it difficult to reach consensus, the association was instrumental in gaining trade concessions from Japan in 1995.
Honda, ironically, is the only major auto maker not joining the new alliance. Tom Elliott, executive vice president of American Honda, said the company believes its interests are adequately represented by the American International Manufacturers Assn., longtime counterpart to the AAMA.
“They are addressing a narrow range of issues,” he said. “We will just stay put for now.”
Some, however, speculate that Honda might be going its own way because it may have a competitive advantage on emissions technology. In the early 1970s, it bucked the industry by introducing an engine that met emissions standards that other auto makers said were impossible to meet.
Just last week, Honda displayed a hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle at the Detroit auto show that gets more than 70 miles per gallon. The vehicle, called the V V, will go on sale this fall. Honda is also working on a nearly zero-emission gasoline engine.
Other companies are hedging their bets as well. Though Volkswagen of Germany and Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. of Japan are joining the alliance, they will also remain members of the international group. Other foreign makers joining the new alliance are Volvo, BMW of Germany and Mazda Motor Corp. of Japan.
The organization says its members operate 255 manufacturing plants in 33 states and account for nearly 90% of all U.S. auto sales.
Pestillo, a highly regarded consensus builder best known for forging good labor relations at Ford, said the alliance will immediately focus on emissions. Auto makers are concerned that new standards to be issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will be much tougher, particularly for trucks and diesels.
