Detroit – Thanks to Obamacare, the health-insurance industry is poised to enter Washington’s regulatory funhouse. The auto industry is already there. And while Americans aren’t yet forced to buy alternative fuel vehicles, the cost of Washington’s mandate of a 40 percent fuel-economy increase by 2015 (to 35 mpg) may cause sticker shock.
Once upon a time, automakers could make tiny econoboxes (and offload them to rental fleets, for example) to balance the bigger vehicles consumers wanted. Now “each size category of vehicle — ‘footprint,’ in federal jargon — will have its own miles per gallon bogey,” reports Dave Guilford of Automotive News after interviews with top industry development chiefs.
That “forces automakers to bet on different technology packages for each vehicle segment,” he continues. “That means that even shrimpy little compacts will get systems such as dual-clutch transmissions and variable valve timing. That could add $1,800 to the sticker.”
That’s $1,800 on a small car, the kind that doesn’t sell very well at present prices.
“There is concern that if there is too much cost associated with it, we’re going to be hurting demand,” says Robert Bienenfeld, senior manager for environment and energy strategy at Honda, the industry standard for fuel efficiency. When Honda is worried, be very, very concerned.
Planet EPA, natch, says the new rules will “only” boost stickers $1,300, a figure industry experts laugh at. Sandra Stojkovski, an auto engineering consultant, projects the sticker of a compact car will go up $1,800 to $2,000. The price of a mid-sized car $4,500 to $6,000. Outfitting a full-sized pickup with a diesel to balance the truck segment’s footprint? Nine grand.
So for those families who are worried about the expected $1,800 rise in health premiums by 2016 due to Obamacare, they may have already spent it on Obama’s new 2015 car mandate.