Word: gm
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...diesel, widely used in trucks and some European cars, offers 25% better fuel economy than conventional engines. Installing a diesel has about the same results as trimming 1,000 Ibs. from one of GM's largest cars. The company, which began offering the engine as an option on some Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs in 1977, expects to sell 190,000 diesel-powered cars and light trucks this year, or about 4% of all GM autos. Barring further Government interference, the com pany expects to expand production of diesels throughout the coming decade...
...roadblocks even though, ironically, the diesel meets all present emission standards. Unlike conventional engines, diesels give off tiny specks of soot known as particulates. In January the Environmental Protection Agency proposed that a limit on diesel particulates be set at 0.2 grams per mile (g.p.m.). The diesel on GM's 350 Oldsmobile now throws off 0.8 g.p.m., and nobody in Detroit knows how to reduce that level in full-size cars without losing power. The agency announced that it will set a final standard later this year after hearing from the auto companies and consumer and environmental groups...
...diesel has other shortcomings: it is costly (GM charges $287 extra for it), starts poorly in cold weather and some times causes a car to vibrate. Ford, the No. 2 automaker, regards the diesel as a back-up and hopes to ride into the future on a stratified-charge "proco" (programmed combustion) engine. In it, the fuel is essentially divided into two mix tures of gas and air, one of which is "rich" (high on the gas) and one "lean" (high on air). The two mixtures are burned in sequence in the combustion chamber, and this produces 20% more mileage...
...overall cost of auto regulation is breathtaking. Economist Colin Loxley of Wharton Econometrics estimates that GM, Ford and Chrysler will spend about $18 billion between 1979 and 1985 to reach the various pollution, mileage and safety goals set by the Government. Most of this inflationary cost, of course, will be borne by the buyer. According to GM's Estes, the price of a typical GM car by 1985 will be $945 more than it would have been without the regulations...
...costly demands of regulation stand to weaken competition within the industry. GM will gain strength, Ford will at least hold its own, while Chrysler and AMC will probably lose ground. The bigger the company, the less trouble it will have meeting the standards. GM last year sold almost half of all the vehicles bought in the U.S. and registered sales of $63 billion, roughly equal to the gross national product of Switzerland. GM is able to spread fixed costs across a much greater volume than its competitors can, and it can spend more for experiment and developing new hardware...