Automakers back Trump administration's rollback of US fuel economy rules

WASHINGTON: A group representing General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and other major automakers on Monday backed the Trump administration in a legal challenge to its sharply lower vehicle fuel economy standards filed by California and other states.

Last month, the US Transportation Department said it was finalising a fleet-wide fuel economy average of 34.9 miles per ⁠gallon (14.7 km per litre) by 2031, down from 50.4 miles per gallon (21.4 km per litre) that had been approved under then-President Joe Biden in 2024.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents GM, Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, Stellantis and other major automakers, backed the effort by President Donald Trump's administration after California, New York and two dozen other states, cities and counties sued last month.

"Automakers require certainty and stability in the standards," the group said in the filing with the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals.

It added that if the standards were set aside, it "would affect automakers' business, endangering the capital investment planning, product development, and performance validation for hundreds of new vehicle models intended for the US market."

The states said the Trump administration was ignoring the presence of millions of electric vehicles, "leading to a ‌flawed, dramatically ⁠distorted analysis of the 'maximum feasible' fuel economy level." The automaker group said the court should reject those arguments.

The revised Trump administration standards seek to reverse Biden's push toward greater fuel efficiency and electric vehicles. A coalition of environmental ​and consumer groups also filed a separate lawsuit challenging the new rules.

The Transportation Department said the regulation reduces manufacturers' average cost per ​vehicle to comply by US$1,289 but increases fuel costs by more than US$1,600 over the vehicles' lifetime. ⁠

The department said the rule would increase US gasoline consumption through 2050 by 4.6 per cent, or about 121 billion gallons, compared with the Biden rules but also boost new car sales.

The American Petroleum Institute, an oil and natural gas industry trade group, also filed in support of the Trump administration's rules, saying they ensure the government sets standards that "do not force consumers to purchase vehicles that consume less fuel than they would otherwise choose."