Automakers Fined for Failing to Meet Mileage Standards
January 03, 2008

Proving once again that Corporate Average Fuel Economy rules are a failure in boosting fuel economy, the federal government Wednesday released the list of fines automakers will pay for not meeting fuel-efficiency standards in 2007. And new records were set.

DaimlerChrysler, which became Daimler AG and Chrysler LLC in the second half of 2007, now holds the record for most fines for a single year as well as most cumulative fines over the years.

DaimlerChrysler will pay $30 million in 2007 fines. BMW previously held the yearly record, set in 2002, of $28 million in fines.

This year's record pushed DaimlerChrysler to the top for paying most fines cumulatively -- $282 million. BMW ranks second in cumulative fines paid at $245 million, followed by Porsche at $57 million.

Fines for other automakers for 2007 were: BMW, $5.1 million for its imported cars; Porsche, $4.6 million, for its cars and SUVs; Volkswagen, $1 million for its sport utilities. 

General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Nissan avoided penalties again by using past and future mileage credits to offset not meeting the standards. The domestic also qualified for a 1.2 mile per gallon credit for vehicles that can run on E85.

Automakers have paid a combined $735 million in fines since 1985 for not meeting the car and light-truck mileage standards, now at 27.5 m.p.g. and 22.2 m.p.g. For each 0.1 mile below the standard, automakers pay $5.50 multiplied by the number of vehicles in the fleet.

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