Business Leaders: New 54.5 mpg Standard Good for Automakers, Consumers and Economy

(3BL Media) August 28, 2012 - With the newly adopted national mileage standard of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 making the headlines today, top business leaders are eager to weigh in with the media on how the standard will positively impact the U.S. economy and the U.S. auto industry. New jobs and strong car sales tied to robust fuel standards are already in evidence from Michigan to Indiana to other Midwest states.

THEIR TAKE: U.S. automakers are today seeing growing consumer demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and it’s already leading to new jobs and stronger profits. In the long term, U.S. automakers can expect to see an increase in extra profits to the tune of $2.44 billion dollars as well as 300,000 additional vehicle sales in 2020. The new standard is also projected to drive investment and innovation in the U.S. and worldwide auto industry, while creating 484,000 new jobs in the U.S. economy wide.

EXPERT INTERVIEWS:

MINDY LUBBER is President of Ceres, a leading coalition of investors and public interest organizations working with companies to address sustainability challenges. Ceres created the Investor Network on Climate Risk, whose 100 members manage more than $10 trillion in collective assets, and include major institutional investors as BlackRock, Deutsche Asset Management, TIAA-CREF, and public pension funds in California, Florida and New York.

Lubber recently noted in a column in Forbes.com:

“ Automakers know that offering buyers a wide range of cars and trucks that go farther on a gallon of gas is good for sales and profits in the United States and around the world. And when the rubber meets the road on the 54.5-mpg standard, they better be ready—or they’ll be left behind.”

To read Lubber’s full take on the new 54.5-mpg standard click here.

CAROL LEE RAWN is the transportation policy expert at Ceres, which collaborated with Citi Investment Research and with Management Information Services to conduct two independent studies of the likely economic and jobs effects of higher fuel economy standards.

Ceres collaborated with Citi Investment Research on Fuel Economy Focus: Industry Perspectives on 2020, which projects the impact that the new U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions program would have on auto manufacturers and their suppliers in 2020.

More Jobs Per Gallon: How Strong Fuel Economy/GHG Standards Will Fuel American Jobs, produced by Ceres with Management Information Services, projects that stronger standards will lead to greater economic and job growth, both within the auto industry and in the broader economy as a whole.

Based on the Ceres and Citi reports, Rawn concludes that:

“Strengthening the national fuel economy standards will create a rising tide that lifts all boats. Car companies and their suppliers will see greater profits and sales. Consumers will save money at the pump. Employment will rise and boost the larger economy. And the U.S. will gain a greater share of the world’s rebounding automotive business.”

To read Rawn’s full assessment of Citi’s and MISI’s research please click here.

BILL GREEN co-founded VantagePoint’s CleanTech Practice, which led investments in companies including Tesla Motors, BrightSource Energy, Miasole, Better Place and New Energy Capital. Green has led five businesses, including Ecolink, the Strategic Chemical Management Group, Team Fuel, and the Environmental Forum on Technology and Business.

As a top investor, Green notes:

“By requiring carmakers to hit an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, the proposed standard will provide exactly the kind of long-term policy certainty that investors loves. As a long-time investor in innovative car technologies and companies like Tesla, I can attest to the fact that a strong standard would unlock investment and innovation, create jobs, and spur economic growth, in the automotive sector and beyond.”

To read Green’s full take on the 54.5 mpg standard, click here.

To book interviews with Mindy Lubber, Carol Lee Rawn or Bill Green, please contact Christina Haro at  415.453.0430 or christina@catercommunications.com.

To learn more about the Fuel Economy Focus: Industry Perspectives on 2020 report, watch the video linked below:

Fuel Economy Impacts: 2020 from Ceres on Vimeo.