Ford Motor company CEO, Mark Fields, a staunch Trump opponent during the presidential campaign, now wants the President Elect to help with EPA’s surprise decision to keep long term fuel economy targets in place. A mid-term review of corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) targets set in 2012 kicked off earlier this year, but the timing of the agency’s recent decision to maintain the 54.5 mile-per-gallon goal reeks of politics, Fields claims. For automakers, reaching 54.5 mpg means extra costs. To avoid this, Ford is prepared to turn to its election campaign sparring partner — President-elect Donald Trump — for help. Meeting federally mandated CAFE (Corporate Annual Fuel Economy)  standards has become one of the huge cost factors to automakers not only in R&D costs and technology improvements, but in managing the fleet average.  If the new line high performance muscle cars are huge sellers, then this must be balanced with production of...(Read Full Post)