Chrysler Corp. and Daimler-Benz AG may have set up a blockbuster engagement, but hardly see eye to eye on U.S. fuel economy standards. Mercedes historically has been a producer of large luxury cars, leaving it without the smaller, more fuel-efficient cars that Chrysler and other automakers use to improve their fuel economy average. But there is no way under current law that I can conceive the Mercedes fleet being considered anything other than an import fleet, and, therefore, separate from ours.
CAFE designates automakers' vehicles as domestic or import, based on the origin of their parts.
Originally passed in 1975 as a response to the Arab oil embargo, CAFE requires every automaker in the United States to ensure its car and light truck fleets average 27.5 mpg and 20.7 mpg, respectively. Donna Boland, spokeswoman for Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc., said the company's perennial failure to meet CAFE regulations stems from engineering decisions that build more technology into its cars, making them heavier. Less fuel-efficient, but generally safer, cars.