Carmakers ditch scare tactics in new fuel ads

Big 3, Toyota spend $1M on campaign to ask Congress for teamwork in fight over standards.

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- Detroit's automakers and Toyota Motor Corp. -- after being trounced in their effort to block a Senate fuel economy bill -- are trying a kinder, gentler approach on Capitol Hill.

The automakers struck out earlier this summer with aggressive ads that implied new fuel economy standards would keep soccer moms from hauling their kids in larger, safer cars and prevent truck owners from buying new pickups.

A $1 million print and radio ad campaign from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents Detroit's Big Three, Toyota and other automakers, begins Monday and strikes a far different tone.

"We don't have all the answers to questions about reasonable fuel economy standards. No one does. Together, we can find the answers America deserves," the campaign says.

The new approach comes after an intensive lobbying effort by the automakers failed to head off a Senate bill passed last month that requires a 40 percent increase in corporate average fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon for cars and trucks combined by 2020 -- a provision domestic automakers say could cost them $85 billion. The automakers are lobbying the House, which would take up fuel economy this summer or in the fall.

"We are the first to voice a mea culpa," Gloria Bergquist, the alliance's vice president, said Friday. "We played a role in a public debate that sounded like a "Crossfire" show.

"CAFE has become a screaming match, and we are trying to move beyond the political rhetoric of rallies with dinosaur heads and TV actors testifying on technology. There are serious policy issues at stake here that will affect millions of jobs and the daily lives of consumers nationwide, and we need a serious dialogue."

Privately, domestic automakers place some of the blame on the failure of senators to propose a softer fuel economy alternative until debate on the Senate energy bill had started.

Environmentalists also have rejected arguments that the increases are too difficult.

"For 30 years, the automakers have been crying wolf, and it doesn't work anymore," said David Friedman, research director for the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Ads target policymakers

The softer tone from automakers comes as all eyes are on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and whether she will include a fuel economy increase in the energy package that is expected to be considered before the end of the month.

U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, has said he wants to pass a reasonable fuel economy increase after Sept. 1.

The ad campaign targets policymakers in Washington and, starting Monday, will be run in print and on Web sites for Capitol Hill publications including Roll Call, The Hill, National Journal, the Weekly Standard, and The New Republic.

Starting Wednesday, the alliance will run radio ads on WTOP in Washington that feature questions like: "Will $6 a gallon make you shift?" or "What pump price puts you in a four-cylinder auto?" Both print ads are headlined: "America deserves answers" and will run at least through the August congressional recess.

Campaign marks shift

The ad campaign is a significant climb down from a campaign the automakers' alliance ran in 10 states in May that urged consumers to contact lawmakers and lobby against the Senate energy bill.

One radio ad had two men talk about buying a pickup. "You might want to do that fast," one says, adding the new fuel standards are "going to really jack up the price."

The second ad emphasized that people could lose the ability to pick larger and safer vehicles if rules pass. A woman in the ad frets that "Automakers are going to be forced to build smaller and smaller cars."

The ads targeted states with high numbers of light-truck owners. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., reacted angrily to the May campaign. "It will not take your pickup truck away," Dorgan told auto executives last month. "I think your position is yesterday forever."

Bergquist acknowledged the ads "did focus on the negative results of extreme legislation instead of focusing on a better alternative."

Environmentalists have painted a rosy view of fuel economy increases, saying tougher standards won't cost consumers anything, eliminate jobs or force automakers to build smaller vehicles. They argue the benefits of lower gas prices outweigh the short-term vehicle price increases.

Automakers say the facts don't bear that out.

"Even if every auto sold was a hybrid and SUVs were eliminated, the auto industry still could not achieve a combined 35 mpg in the time frame directed by the Senate Energy bill," Bergquist said. "Eliminating all SUVs from the market only raises the fleet fuel economy by about 1 mpg."

Automakers have embraced an alternative fuel economy bill in the House and are quietly lobbying behind the scenes to get more members to support it.

Last month, Reps. Baron Hill, D-Ind., and Lee Terry, R-Neb., proposed increasing CAFE requirements to up to 35 mpg by 2022 -- and a minimum of 32 mpg -- for cars and trucks.

About 100 auto dealers from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., the Chrysler Group and Toyota will be on Capitol Hill on Monday and Tuesday to seek support for the Terry-Hill legislation.

The dealers will meet Tuesday with the Congressional Tri-Caucus -- which includes the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

You can reach David Shepardson at (202) 662-8735 or dshepardson@detnews.com.