- Jul 28, 2006
- 18,251
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I had never heard of the two fleet rule until I read the article below. Afterwards I did some digging and learned about the rule and it is quite an eye opener.
A lot of people argue that cafe standards are a good thing and talk about how great it is that we have raised gas millage so much in the last decade or two. Little did we know that these same rules are being used and abused to help the UAW keep its stranglehold on the big 3 car makers.
See, the two fleet rule states that cars made in the US, Canada or Mexico are treated as one fleet and cars made elsewhere are treated as another fleet. And each fleet must achieve the cafe standard on its own.
This effectively forces the big 3 to make small cars in the US or Canada even though it is impossible for them to make money doing so. If the two fleet rule did not exist then GM, Ford etc could make the larger profitable vehicles in the states and import the cheap small cars from Brazil, N. Korea etc. This would drastically improve the profitability of the big three and would have NO effect at all on overall millage standards.
Again!!! And this is very important. The two fleet rule has NOTHING to do with cafe standards and everything to do with protecting the UAW. Knowing this does anyone really think that the Democrats are going to let GM declare bankruptcy? The unions are the life blood of the party, they can't afford to lose them or the hundreds of millions they spend on behalf of Democrats.
A lot of people argue that cafe standards are a good thing and talk about how great it is that we have raised gas millage so much in the last decade or two. Little did we know that these same rules are being used and abused to help the UAW keep its stranglehold on the big 3 car makers.
See, the two fleet rule states that cars made in the US, Canada or Mexico are treated as one fleet and cars made elsewhere are treated as another fleet. And each fleet must achieve the cafe standard on its own.
This effectively forces the big 3 to make small cars in the US or Canada even though it is impossible for them to make money doing so. If the two fleet rule did not exist then GM, Ford etc could make the larger profitable vehicles in the states and import the cheap small cars from Brazil, N. Korea etc. This would drastically improve the profitability of the big three and would have NO effect at all on overall millage standards.
Again!!! And this is very important. The two fleet rule has NOTHING to do with cafe standards and everything to do with protecting the UAW. Knowing this does anyone really think that the Democrats are going to let GM declare bankruptcy? The unions are the life blood of the party, they can't afford to lose them or the hundreds of millions they spend on behalf of Democrats.