Toyota has critics on being ‘green’
No green peace for Toyota?
The Japanese automaker may be the top seller of gasoline-sipping hybrids -- including the best-in-class Prius -- but advocacy groups say Toyota Motor Corp. is imperiling its “green” image by fighting tough new fuel economy standards being proposed in Congress.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups, Toyota is siding with General Motors Corp. and seven other automakers to lobby against the new CAFE (D.C.-speak for corporate average fuel economy) rules.
“They have a green halo, justifiably, and yet unbeknownst to their customers they’ve joined forces with the Detroit Three to argue against greener standards,” Deron Lovaas of the NRDC told the Associated Press.
The NRDC claims that Toyota wants the more lenient rules so it can continue to push big pickups including the Tundra with its 15 miles per gallon/city and 19/mpg highway stats.
“The question is fair, but overlooks a more obvious question for a business in the fiercely competitive automotive market,” Toyota Vice President Irv Miller wrote on a company website. “There’s a point at which the bar is set too high for all competitors.”
Toyota and the other automakers back the so-called Hill-Terry bill in the House, which requires cars to average 35 mpg and trucks to get 32 mpg by 2022. The Senate approved a 35 mpg rule for all vehicles by 2020.
Toyota and No. 2 Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. led all U.S. automakers in fleet-wide fuel economy this year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
State acts to deter illegal resales
California is taking the first steps toward joining a national motor vehicle database that officials hope will help deter the fraudulent resale of stolen or flood-damaged cars and trucks.
The Department of Motor Vehicles is seeking bidders on a project that eventually should tie the state’s vehicle title records into the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, thankfully known as NMVTIS for short.
California, with the most registered vehicles of any state, has steered clear of the database, to the chagrin of officials in other states and federal officials who are trying to collect information from all 50 states.
New York recently decided to join. Adding California to the database will mean that about three-quarters of the nation’s passengers vehicles will be covered by the system. (Only vehicle data is being put in the system, not personal registration information.)
After all vehicle titles and vehicle identification numbers (VIN) are included in the system, it will be more difficult for crooks to pass off stolen cars by swiping legitimate ID numbers from other cars -- a practice known as VIN cloning.
It should also help combat title washing, the process of moving a car across state lines and getting a new title that can camouflage the vehicle’s unsavory past, such as flood damage.
“I’m thrilled that California is going to be part of this,” said Rosemary Shahan, president of the Sacramento advocacy group Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety.
One potential roadblock: Officials say money is needed to get the database fully functioning and Congress has yet to act, although Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pushing for funding.
Classic Japanese cars on display
The third annual Japanese Classic Car Show is today at the park near the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Organizers say this year’s show marks the 50th anniversary of Japanese automakers selling vehicles in the U.S. -- not exactly a red-letter date in Detroit.
Organizers expect more than 300 pre-1985 Japanese cars covering all major marques. With such numbers, there’s bound to be a Toyopet there somewhere.
For more details, go online to www.japaneseclassiccarshow.com.
