Big Three auto CEOs say ready to help Bush on alternative fuels

New York (Platts)--26Mar2007

The heads of the US' Big Three automakers met with President George W.
Bush on Monday, saying they stand ready to produce more flex-fuel vehicles to
reduce the nation's gasoline consumption, but calling for the government and
oil companies to move quickly on alternative fuels infrastructure at the pump.

The executives -- Chrysler Group President and CEO Tom Lasorda, Ford
Motor Company President and CEO Alan Mulally, and General Motors Chairman and
CEO Rick Wagoner -- issued a joint statement after meeting with Bush at the
White House.

The three said they reiterated to Bush that their companies are prepared
to make half their annual vehicle production capable of running on E85 or
biodiesel by 2012. E85 is a fuel blend consisting of 85% ethanol and 15%
gasoline.

"To capitalize on these commitments, we emphasized with the president the
need for increased incentives to produce and distribute biofuels," the CEOs
said.

They told Bush there were more than 6 million flex-fuel vehicles on US
roads today, with the Big Three due to add another million such cars and
trucks in 2007. If those seven million vehicles ran on E85, it would displace
more than 3.6 billion gallons of gasoline a year, the CEOs said.

Additionally, Lasorda, Mulally and Wagoner said if all the E85-capable
vehicles in use today, along with those the Big Three have committed to
produce over the next 10 years, did indeed fuel with E85, it would displace 22
billion of gasoline annually.

"In order to achieve these levels of petroleum savings, we asked the
president to help provide Americans with reasonable access to these fuels at a
price that is competitive with gasoline," the CEOs said.

They pointed out that there are about 1,100 E85 pumps in the US, and
another 1,000 biodiesel pumps, out of 170,000 retail fuel stations. The CEOs
told Bush more alternative fuel pumps need to be put in service to accommodate
the growing call for flex-fuel vehicles.

--Kevin Saville, kevin_saville@platts.com