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Carmakers ask Trump to revisit fuel efficiency rules

Car companies operating in the US are required to meet stringent fuel efficiency standards (a fleet average of 54.5MPG) through 2025, but they're hoping to loosen things now that President Trump is in town. Leaders from Fiat Chrysler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and VW have sent a letter to Trump asking him to rethink the Obama administration's choice to lock in efficiency guidelines for the next several years. The car makers want to revisit the midterm review for the 2025 commitment in hopes of loosening the demands. They claim that the tougher requirements raise costs, don't match public buying habits and will supposedly put "as many a million" jobs up in the air. The Trump administration hasn't specifically responded to the letter, although Environmental Protection Agency nominee Scott Pruitt had said he would return to the Obama-era decision. The automakers' argument doesn't entirely hold up. While the EPA did estimate that the US would fall short of efficiency goals due to a shift toward SUVs and trucks, the job claims are questionable. Why would making more fuel efficient vehicles necessarily cost jobs instead of pushing companies to do better? As it is, even a successful attempt to loosen guidelines may only have a limited effect. All of the brands mentioned here are pushing for greater mainstream adoption of electric vehicles within the next few years -- they may meet the Obama administration's expectations just by shifting more drivers away from gas power. This article by Jon Fingas originally appeared on Engadget, your guide to this connected life. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images Government/Legal Green Chrysler Fiat GM Honda Hyundai Nissan Toyota Volkswagen Fuel Efficiency CAFE standards Trump

FCA withdraws its offer to merge with Renault

UPDATE: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released a statement confirming that it has withdrawn its merger offer, saying "it has become clear that the political conditions in France do not currently exist for such a combination to proceed successfully." The full statement can be read below our original story, which continues below. Fiat Chrysler has withdrawn its $35 billion merger offer for Renault, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday. A source said that FCA had informed Renault it had withdrawn the offer after Renault's board of directors failed to reach a decision on the merger during a meeting that ran late into the night Wednesday. Instead, the board granted the French government's request to postpone its vote. The government wanted time to persuade Renault's reticent alliance partner Nissan. Renault's board issued a press release that said simply that it was "unable to take a decision due to the request expressed by the representatives of the French State to postpone the vote to a later Council." WSJ reported that Nissan's two members on Renault's board were balking, while the rest of the board favored the merger. The French government wouldn't it back the deal unless Nissan agreed to maintain its role in the Renault-Nissan alliance, sources said. Nissan had received little advance warning of the merger proposal and was balking. Apparently the French government thought Nissan could be brought around if given more time. "We should take our time to make sure that things are done well," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told French television on Wednesday. When the French requested a delay and Renault's board granted it, FCA withdrew. The French state, which owns 15% of Renault, had also been seeking more influence over the merged company, firmer job guarantees and improved terms for Renault shareholders in return for blessing the $35 billion tie-up. The merger would have created the world's third-biggest automaker with combined sales of 8.7 million vehicles per year, and was intended to cut costs as the parties develop electric and autonomous vehicles. Read Fiat Chrysler Automobile's full statement below: FCA withdraws merger proposal to Groupe Renault June 5, 2019 , London - IMPORTANT NOTICE The Board of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. ("FCA") (NYSE: FCAU / MTA: FCA), meeting this evening under the Chairmanship of John Elkann, has resolved to withdraw with immediate effect its merger proposal made to Groupe Renault.

Lee Iacocca, Chrysler's savior and godfather of the Mustang, dies at 94

Lee Iacocca, a charismatic U.S. auto industry executive and visionary, who gave America the Ford Mustang and Chrysler minivan, and was celebrated for saving Chrysler from going out of business, died at the age of 94, the Washington Post reported. He died Tuesday at his home in Bel-Air, California of complications from Parkinson's disease, his daughter Lia Iacocca Assad told the Post. During a nearly five-decade career in Detroit that began in 1946 at Ford Motor Co, the proud son of Italian immigrants made the covers of Time, Newsweek and the New York Times Sunday Magazine in stories portraying him as the avatar of the American Auto Age. One of the first celebrity U.S. chief executives, his autobiography made best-seller lists in the mid-1980s. Iacocca was a cracker-jack salesman. He encouraged his design teams to be bold, and they responded with sports cars that appealed to baby boomers in the 1960s, fuel-efficient models when gasoline prices soared in the 1970s, and the first-ever, family-oriented minivan in the 1980s that led its segment in sales for 25 years. "I don't know an auto executive that I've ever met who has a feel for the American consumer the way he does," late United Auto Workers Union President Douglas Fraser had said. "He's the greatest communicator who's ever come down the pike in the history of the industry." Iacocca also had some duds, such as the Ford Pinto, an economy car that became notorious for exploding fuel tanks. "You don't win 'em all," he said of the Pinto. Iacocca won a place in business history when he pulled Chrysler, now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, from the brink of collapse in 1980, rallying support in U.S. Congress for $1.2 billion in federally guaranteed loans and persuading suppliers, dealers and union workers to make sacrifices. He cut his salary to $1 a year. Iacocca was often described as a demanding and volatile boss who sometimes clashed with fellow executives. "He could get mad as hell at you, and once it was done he let it go. He wouldn't stay mad," said Bud Liebler, vice president of communications at Chrysler during the 1980s and 1990s. "He liked to bring an issue to its head, get it resolved. You always knew where you stood with him." Iacocca often spoke of his immigrant roots and how America rewards hard work.