Word: automen
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Many automen are shocked and angered. "We're breaking our butts trying to get to the numbers that Adams has got for us already," grouses Riccardo. Adds a Ford executive: "What he's calling for is the repeal of the law of thermodynamics." For all their misgivings, however, the industry's leaders have lately begun to realize the full dimensions of the problem facing the country. Says Henry Ford II: "The fuel issue is a national problem...
...themselves by their earlier stonewalling of all regulations, many of which are judged basically desirable by society. The manufacturers' typical rejoinder to any new standard was "Technologically it cannot be done," or "It can be accomplished on a limited basis, but not for mass production." Today the automen are more cooperative, but they have difficulty getting a fair hearing from the public or Congress, both of which often discount their arguments in advance. Admits Estes: "We've got a serious problem with our credibility." Thus the regulators have felt free to override industry objections to bloated costs...
Detroit's automen tooted last week that they intend to raise production in the first quarter by about 7.5% over the high levels of a year ago and that this should help keep the economy humming along. But while Americans are buying a lot of cars, they are also buying too many big, fuel-thirsty models, and the auto marketers are trying to swing sales toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles...
...Jeep division 31% of the domestic sports-utility market-a term covering relatively small four-wheel-drive vehicles designed for off-road use. Running second is Chevy's Blazer with nearly 24% of the market, followed by Ford's newly revamped Bronco with 21%. Next year U.S. automen expect to produce 1 million four-wheel-drive vehicles. The field has become so attractive that even Mercedes plans to enter with its own four-wheeler by next summer...
...Automen do not fault Claybrook's intelligence, but they complain that her agency shoots from the hip and uses the media to publicize charges that are not retracted with the same fanfare when proved incorrect. They criticize NHTSA for yielding to pressure groups, for failing to measure costs against benefits, and for lacking enough competent staffers. Undaunted, Claybrook aims next to get the automakers to improve seat belts and to scrap their spearlike hood ornaments, which she considers dangerous...