‘Not reasonable. Not achievable’: US auto industry fights new emissions proposal

Most of the US auto industry has come out with a scathing criticism of President Joe Biden administration's new vehicle emission proposal, calling it harsh and difficult to achieve. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) has expressed its reservations against what has been proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a bid to drastically drop vehicle emissions till 2032.

AAI is made up of carmakers like General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota Motor - among others, and is against the EPA's proposal as it believes it is not feasible.

The EPA had proposed earlier this year that vehicle emissions should be cut by 56 per cent over 2026 levels. This would necessitate around 60 per cent of all new vehicles sold in the country by 2030 to be electric. This would also mean this figure will need to rise to 67 per cent of all new car sales by 2032.

But AAI has its very serious reservations. "EPA’s standards cannot be met without substantially increasing the cost of all vehicles, reducing consumer choice and disadvantaging major portions of the US population and territory," the group said.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has proposed to invest $2 billion from last year's Inflation Reduction Act in order to speed up domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles while ensuring that the transition is smooth, for manufacturers, customers as well as workers. Under it, priority would be given to plants that have either shut shop or are close to closure.